THE
SACRED BOOKS OP THE HINDUS
VOL. 16
AMS PRESS
NEW YORK
Digitized by L^ooQle
THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE HINDUS
Translated by various Sanskrit Scholars
EDITED BY
Major B. D. BASU, I.M.S. ( Retired )
VOL. XVI
THE POSITIVE BACKGROUND
OP
HINDU SOCIOLOGY
BOOK I.
PUBLISHED BY
sudhindranAtha vasu
PROM THE PlNINI OFFICE, BHU VANES WART ASRAMA, BAHADUROANJ
Bllababab
Printed by Apurva Krishna Bose at the Indian Press
1914
Digitized by C^ooQle
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
ZL
mo
.513
V. I k
i^v
Sarkar, Benoy Kumar, 1887-1949.
The positive background of Hindu sociology.
Original ed. issued as vols. 16 and 25 of The Sacred
books of the Hindus.
Book 1 (v. 16 of the seriesLwas written as an introd.
to the author’s translation of Sukra's Sukraiuti (v. 13 of
the series)
Bibliography: p.
CONTENTS: book 1. Non-political. - book 2. Political.
1. Sukra. Sukraniti. 2. India—Politics and
government—Ancient period. 3. India—Economic
conditions—Ancient period. 4. India—Social conditions.
I. Seal, Sir Brajendranath, 1864-1938. H. Title.
IH. Series: The Sacred books of the Hindus, v. 16, 2.
JS50.S33 913.34*03 73-3807
ISBN 0-404-57839-X
Reprinted from the edition of 1914, Allahabad
First AMS edition published, 1974
Manufactured in the United States of America
International Standard Book Number:
Complete Set: 0-404-57800-4
Volumes 16 and 25: 0-404-57839-X
Volume 16: 0-404-57816-0
AMS Press, INC.
New York, N.Y. 10003
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) I U 1 - 7 - 7 !/ -134
THE POSITIVE BACKGROUND
OF
HINDU SOCIOLOGY
BOOK I.—N ON -POLITICAL.
BY
Prof. BENOY KUMAR SARKAR, M.A.
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION, BENGAL,
AUTHOR OF ‘THE SCIENCE OF HISTORY AND THE HOPE OF MANKIND,' 4 INTRODUCTION TO THE
SdENOB OF EDUCATION,' 4 SANSKRIT TAUGHT WITHOUT GRAMMAR,'
Ac., Ac.
WITH APPENDICES
BY
Db. BRAJENDRANATH SEAL, M.A., Ph.D.
KING GBORGB V. [PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THB UNIVERSITY OP CALCUTTA.
PUBLISHED BY
THB PANINI OFFIOB, BHCVANE8WARI AS RAMA, BAHADDRGANJ
Bllababab
Printbd by Apurva Krishna Bosb at the Indian Press
1914
Digitized by L^ooQle
DR. RAJENDRALAL MITRA
( 1820 - 1890 )
DR. UDOYCHAND DUTT
( 1834 - 1884 )
U. RAY A SONS.
Digitized by L^ooQle
TO THE MEMORY OF
THE LATE ANTIQUARIAN AND ART-CRITIC
Dr. RAJENDRALALA MITRA,
THE FIRST INDIAN SCHOLAR. AND THE FATHER OF THE NATIONAL SCHOOL
OF INDIAN HISTORICAL RESEARCH
AND
THE LATE SCIENTIST.
Dr. UDAY CHAND DUTT,
THE PIONEER OF INVESTIGATIONS REGARDING THE CHEMICO-MEDICAL
AND MEDICO-BOTANICAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE HINDUS;
AND
TO THE DISTINGUISHED SAVANT.
Dr. BRAJENDRANATH SEAL,
A LIVING ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN SCIENCES AND ORIENTAL Vlif*,
THE APOSTLE OF HINDU CULTURE. AND INSPIRER OF
YOUNG INDIA IN PHILOSOPHICOCOMPARATIVE
STUDIES
THIS SMALL TRIBUTE OF SINCERE APPRECIATION AND
GENUINE REGARD
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED
BY THEIR HUMBLE ADMIRER.
THE AUTHOR.
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CONTENTS.
Foreword
Bibliography
BOOK I.—NON-POLITICAL.
CHAPTER I.
Relativity of the Nltisastpas.
8scrnON 1. —Hindu Culture and Sociology in Sukr&niti
„ 2.—Landmarks in the History of Hindu Political Development
„ 8.—Milestones in the History of Hindu Political Speculation
(a) ArthasAstra
(b) Klmandaki Niti ...
(c) Other works
(d) Smriti SAstras ...
(e) Traditional Abridgment of NitisAstras
(f) Yuktikalpataru ...
(g) Hindu RAjneet in Ayeen Akbari
„ 4.—Unity and Diversity in Indian national life
„ 5.—Preliminary spade-work
CHAPTER II.
The Data of Aneient Indian Geography.
Sbotion 1.—Sukranlti as a source of Geographical Information ...
2.—General Geographical Facts
(a) The Quarters and Divisions of India ...
Yavanas
Beef and Fish
Maternal Uncle’s Daughter...
Wines ...
Unchastity
East Indian locale of Sukranfti
(b) Other lands
(e) Definite names
(1) Simhala
(ii) Gandaka
(ill) DAkginttya ...
(iv) Madhyadesa ...
(v) Khatfa
8.—General Aspect of the country
(o) Hills ...
(b) Rivers
(c) Seas ...
Page.
... ix
... xix
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8
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9
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12
14
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22
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26
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29
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82
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88
84
86
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Section 4.—Climate and Soils
I. Meteorology...
Heavenly Bodies
The Son
The Moon
The Atmosphere
The Clouds ...
The Seasons ...
IL Geology
„ 6.—Flora and Fauna
(1) Plants...
(2) Animals
CHAPTER III.
The Data of Anolent Indian Ethnology•
Section 1.—Sukraniti as a source of Ethnological Information ...
„ 2.—The Races
Yavanas ...
Ehasas
Mlechchhas
The Demi-gods
Forest Tribes
Aryas
„ 8.—Identification
Yavanas ...
Mlechchhas
Aryas
Kir&tas
R&k$asas and Pis&ohas ... ...
Asuras
CHAPTER IY.
The Data of Ancient Indian Minepalogy.
Section 1.—Sukraniti as the “ Architectonic ” Science
„ 2.—The Synthetic Philosophy of Sukr&ch&ryya
„ 8.—The Place of Mineralogy in Sukraniti
„ 4.—History of Hindu Mineralogy
(a) Literature on Metals
I. Yedic Literature
II. Ayurvedic Literature
III, Tantric Literature ...
IV. Modern Literature
„ 5.—History of Hindu Mineralogy (contd.)
(b) Literature on Gems
I. Vedic Period
II. Classical Period
III. P&la-Chola or Tantric Period
IY. Modern Period
Page.
87
88
89
89
41
42
48
46
48
47
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60
60
61
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62
68
55
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58
60
61
68
64
67
... 68
... 70
... 71
78
78
74
75
... 76
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Section 8,—General Remarks on Metallurgy in,Hindu life and thought
Extent and Importance
Ornaments
Sukra on Mining and Metallurgy
Metals and Stones in Minor arts
7. —The Doctrine of Seven Metals ...
Yedio Period
Oharaka-Susruta
The Doctrine of Six Metals (contd.)
The I4th century
Subsequent Notions ...
Explanation of the number seyen
8. —The Economic Mineralogy of SukrichAryya’s India
(а) The Pure Metals ...
(i) Gold
Testing
As Wealth and Money...
Uses of Gold
The State in relation to Gold
Exchange-Value
(ii) Silver
(iii) Copper
(iv) Iron
(y) Tin
(vi) Lead
(vii) Zinc
(б) The Alloys
9. —General remarks on Gems in Sukraniti
10. —The Doctrine of Nine Gems ... ...
(a) Vedic Literature...
(b) Ayurvedic Literature
(c) VarAhamihira
(d) The PurAnas
(e) Sripati, the Astronomer
(/) Subsequent Literature
(g) Recapitulation
1L—The Economic Mineralogy of SukrAchAryya’s India
The Mah&ratnas
(i) Vajra or Diamond
(ii) MuktA or Pearls
(iii) M&nikya or Ruby
(iv) PAchi, Marakata, GArutmata or Emerald
(v) Indranila or Sapphire ...
(vi) Vaiduryya
(vii) Pu§yarAga or Topaz
(viii) Gomeda
(ix) PravAla, Vidruma or Coral
Page.
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112
112
118
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116
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121
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122
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Section 12.—Miscellaneous
1. Sulphur
1 Glass
8. Alkalies
4. Stones
CHAPTER V.
The Data of Ancient Indian Botany.
Section 1 — Snkrantti as a source of Botanical Information
„ 2.—Identification of the Snkra Flora
(a) The Phalln&h or Fruit-bearing Trees ...
(b) The Aranyaka Trees
(c) Other Plants
„ 8.—The Locale of Snkrantti
1. 4 Botanical Statistics’ applied to Snkrantti
2. Ecological Evidences
(a) Gujrat Flora and Sukra Flora ..
{b) Bengal (Gangetio Plain) Flora and Snkra Flora
(c) South Indian Flora and Snkra Flora
(d) Indus Plain Flora and 6nkra Flora
8. Literary Evidences
(a) Vedio Flora and Snkra Flora ...
(b) Oharaka Flora and Snkra Flora
(c) VarAha Flora and Snkra Flora
(d) Ealidasic Flora and Snkra Flora
4. Concluding Remarks
„ 4.— Forestry ...
(a) Non-Economic ...
(b) Economic
Uses of Plants
Wines
Plants in relation to other KalAs
(c) Administration ...
V 5.—Horti-Flori-Arbori-culture
(a) SukrAchAryya on Practical Gardening
(b) VarAhamihira on Ecology ...
(c) Sukra versus VarAha
(d) Hindu Phyto-pathology
(e) The Luther Burbank of Hindu India ...
(/) Botany in Fine Arts
„ 8.—Agriculture
(a) Agricultural Oconpation, Population and Tenure
(b) The Crops
(i) The Cereals*
Vrfhi
Godhuma
Yava
Page.
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122
124
128
128
180
180
181
188
141
144
144
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152
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150
180
181
181
188
185
188
187
188
171
172
178
174
178
177
170
180
182
184
184
184
185
* The arrangement and marking of topics on pp. 184-188'should be corrected and read
as given here.
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( * )
(II) The Police*
18*
•akin
185
(ill) Oil-eeedi*
185
Tile ... ••• mi
188
(iv) Other Plante*
...
...
188
(a) Sugarcenes
...
188
(b) Bamboos ... ...
...
188
(c) Tola or Cotton
...
•••
188
(d) Arka
•ss
187
(«) Indigo
• ••
187
(/) Betel
...
• ••
187
(g) Glnia
...
• ss
188
(H) Lotos
• ••
188
(i) Citron
188
(/) Rati (Abros preoatorios)
...
188
SecmoN 7.—Botany ae Science ... ... .,.
188
„ 8.—Preliminary Survey of Hindo Botany
• ••
180
1. Lines of Inqniry
see
180
2. The so-called M Indian Botany ” of to-day
...
188
8. Summary of Researches in Hindo Botany
...
187
(o) Gondal
...
187
(b) Dr. Sen ... ...
188
(c) Prof. Ohatterjl
...
...
200
(d) Other Scholars
...
...
208
appendix A.
(e) Dr. Seal
• ss
208
A Concluding Remarks
...
...
207
CHAPTER YL
The Data of Anolent Indian Zoology.
Section 1.—The Secular Sciences of the Hindus >M
208
„ 2.—The Alleged Decline of Hindu Intellect ...
...
208
„ 8.—The Zoological Lore of the Hindus
ss#
218
(a) Brief Survey of Zoology in Europe ...
ses
218
(b) Vedio Fauna ...
• s#
215
(c) Maury a Fauna ...
...
217
(d) The Fauna in Hindu Folklore
218
(e) The Sacred Fauna
221
(/) The Fauna In Hindo Art ...
...
...
224
( g) Varihamihiran Fauna
•••
280
(h) Ayurvedic Fauna ...
see
ess
281
(i) Fauna in Veterinary Literature
see
285
(A) P&lak&pya or the Science of Elephants
• ••
285
(B) S&lihotra or the Science of Horses
...
...
288
* The arrangement and marking of topics on pp. 184-188 should be corrected and read
as given here.
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( vi )
Page.
APPENDIX B.
(j) Zoological Taxonomy of the Hindns...
...
... 241
Suction 4.—The Sokra Fauna
...
...
... 241
»»
6 .—Mammals in Snkraniti
(a) Primates
...
...
... 246
(b) Carnivora
...
...
... 247
(c) Rodentia
...
...
... 247
(d) Ungolata
...
...
... 247
(e) Cetacea
...
...
... 250
»>
6 .—Aves in Snkraniti
(a) Passeres
...
... 260
(b) Coccyges
...
...
... 260
(c) Psittaci
...
...
... 260
(d) Accipitres
...
...
... 261
(e) ColumbsB
...
...
~ 261
(/) GallinsB
...
...
... 261
( 9 ) Grallffi
...
...
... 252
(h) Anserees
..
...
... 262
tt
7.—Reptiles in Snkraniti
(a) Emydosanria ...
...
...
... 262
(b) Chelonia
...
...
... 258
(c) Squamata
...
...
... 268
tt
8 .—Pisces in Snkraniti ...
...
...
... 265
tt
9.—Invertebrates in Snkraniti
...
...
... 266
tt
10.—Agricultural Live-stock in Snkraniti
...
...
... 266
n
11.—Economic Zoology in Snkraniti
...
...
... 269
tt
12.—The Animal-Corps in Snkraniti ...
.M
...
... 262
tt
13.— Horses
(a) External Anatomy
...
...
... 266
(b) Mettle and worth
...
...
... 266
(c) Omens
...
...
... 267
(d) Breeds
...
... 270
(e) Training and Management
...
... 272
(/) Grooming
...
... 274
( 9 ) Forage
...
... 275
(h) Rules about Exercise
...
... 276
(i) Art of Training
...
... 277
(j) Stables and Trappings ...
...
... 279
tt
14.—Elephants
(a) Mettle and worth
• ••
...
... 280
(b) Omens • *. ...
•••
...
... 282
(c) Breeds ...
...
...
... 282
(d) Training and Management
...
...
... 286
»»
16—Camels and Bulls ... ...
•**
Ml
... 287
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( TO )
Auction 10.—The Anatomy of the Vertebrates
(a) Hindu Literature on Human Anatomy »..
1. The Nervous System of the Tantras
2. Osteology
8 . Var&hamihira
APPENDIX 0.
4. Dr. Seal on Hindu Physiology and Biology
(b) The Scientific Value of Hindb Anatomy
(c) Propagation of anatomical knowledge in Hindu India
( d ) Homan Anatomy in Snkranlti
(e) External Anatomy of Horses, Elephants, Ac. ...
(i) Heights ...
(ii) Lengths...
(iii) Circumferences
(iv) Distances, breadth, Ac.
(/) Dentition and Age of Animals ... ...
„ 17.—Organisation of Veterinary Department in the Snkra Polity
APPENDICES BY Dr. SEAL.
A. Hindu Ideas about Plants and Plant Life
Section 1.—Classification of Plants
„ 2.—Elementary Ideas of Plant Physiology
B. Hindu Classification of Animals
Section 1.—Classification of Animals
„ 2 .—Re-capitulation
C. Hindu Physiology and Biology
Section 1 .—Metabolism
„ 2.—Circulatory System ...
„ 8 .—The Nervous System in Charaka...
»» A— „ „ after the Tantras
„ 5.—Ganglionic Centres and Plexuses
„ 0.—Nerve Cords and Fibres
„ 7.—Automatic and Reflex Activity of the Organism
„ 8 .—Foetal Development ...
„ Heredity ...
» 10.—The Sex question
„ 11 .—Life
D. Hindu Mechanics
Section 1.—Annalysis of Motion ... ... ...
„ 2 .—Motion considered in relation to its causes
„ 8 .—Cause of Motion
„ 4.—Motion of Fluids
„ 5.—Motion ascribed to adrtyta,
„ ©.—Measurement of Motion
„ 7.—Notion of there axes ...
„ 8 .—Relative Motion
„ 9.—Serial Motion
tag*.
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290
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290
298
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801
802
802
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808
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858
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858
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IS. Hindu Acoustics
Section 1.—Analysis of Sound
„ 8.— „ „ Vibratory Motion
w 8. —Beho ... ...
„ 4.—-Pitch, Intensity and timbre
„ 5.—Musical Sound
» 8.—The Notes of the Diatonio Scale
» 7.—Musical intervals ... *
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FOREWORD.
The present volume is a part of * The Positive Background of Hindu
Sociology ' which is meant to be the Introduction to my English translation
of the Sanskrit work on Sociology entitled Sukrantti, published as Volume XIII
of the 4 Sacred Books of the Hindus * Series. “ The Positive Background " will
be divided into two books: (i) Non-Political and (2) Political.
Besides the six chapters presented in this volume, Book I (Non-Political) will
comprise:—
Chapter VI!.—The Data of ancient Indian Art (Architecture, Sculpture
and Painting).
Chapter VIII.—The Data of ancient Indian morals and manners (includ¬
ing socio-religious rites and institutions).
Chapter IX,—The Data of ancient Indian Pedagogy (including vidyds ,
kaUs, and literature).
Chapter X.—The Data of ancient Indian Economics (including Statistics
of Prices, Wages, Ac.).
Book II (Political) will comprise the following:—
Chapter I.—The Data of ancient Indian Polity or Constitution, i.e. 9 form
of Government (including the Theory of the Rdqtra or
State).
Chapter II.—The Data of ancient Indian Public Finance.
Chapter III.—The Data of ancient Indian Jurisprudence.
Chapter IV.—The Data of ancient Indian International Law (the Doctrine
of mandala as influencing the conceptions regarding
• spheres of influence’ and 4 spheres of interest ’).
The work is based mainly on an analytical study of SukrAch&ryya’s code,
so that the Data of Hindu Sociology collected here reflect strictly those phases
of Indian national evolution which have influenced the authors of the Sukra
cycle. This 4 Positive Background,’ therefore, is more or less a statical picture,
and represents only such landmarks in the culture-history of the Hindus as are
embodied in the single document Sukrantti . It must not be regarded as the
result of any attempt to delineate the dynamical processes of the historic growth
of Hindu civilisation or represent the several stages in the making of modern
Indian life and thought. Recent works of this class are Principal Iyengar's
Life in Ancient India in the Age of Mantras , and Mr. Narendranath Law's
Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (based on the Arthasdstra of Kaufilya).
There are, however, a few historical sections and sub-sections in the
4 Positive Background." These should not, on the one hand, be looked upon as
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( X )
recording the characteristics of the various cultural landmarks of Indian
history; nor, on the other, be regarded as wholly superfluous digressions
uncalled for in the Introduction to Sukraniti.
These historical sections have been necessary for two reasons. In the
first place, the Code of Sukracharyya as well as the Data of Hindu life portrayed
in it could not be presented in their proper perspective and their date as well
as locale could not be ascertained unless Indian literature were studied
chronologically as well as comparatively. In this respect the author feels that
he has not been able to rise to the height of the occasion ; for, as has been often
stated with regret in the body of the book, he has had to ignore not only the
Tamil, Prakrit, and vernacular evidences, but he has not even been able to utilise
the more important documents of Sanskrit literature, not to speak of the un¬
published manuscripts, telegraphic descriptions of which are to be found in Prof.
Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum .
In the second place, for a proper appreciation of the Hindu achievements in
science, abstract or applied, it is indispensable to have always before one’s mind's
eye the landmarks in the history of western science. Much of the prevalent
notions regarding the alleged inferiority of the Hindu genius in grappling with
the problems of this mundane sphere and the extra-proneness of the Indian mind
to metaphysical and unpractical speculations can vanish and be proved to be the
results of mal-observation and non-observation leading 44 to half-truths which are
really whole errors,”—only if we apply the Historico-Comparative method in
studying Indian facts and phenomena. For all Indologists should remember that
the wonderful achievements of the western nations are strictly speaking only a
century old. So that if, while instituting a comparison between Hindu and Occid¬
ental cultures on the score of physical 4 sciences ’ properly so-called and applied
arts and industries, care were taken to eliminate from one’s consideration the
triumphs and discoveries of the last few generations, the Hindu scientific
intellect would be found to have been in no way lagging behind. The
sole corrective of false notions about Hindu civilisation is this 14 sense
of historic perspective, ” which for the present generation of Indian scholars
should be tantamount to a thorough familiarity with the history of European
thought.
This brings me to an explanation of the title of the work. The Introduc¬
tion to Sukraniti has been called ‘ The Positive Background of Hindu Socio¬
logy,’ because Sukraniti as a Nitisdstra , Arthasdstra , Dharmasdstra , or Dharma-
sutra deals mainly with the topics implied by such Hindu categories as
Dharma (morals), Artha (interests,) and Kdma (desires and passions) as opposed
to Mokqa or Salvation ; and hence a study in Sukraniti should properly be a
study in the non -mok$a or non-transcendental and non-spiritual, t\e., the secular,
worldly and 4 positive ’ elements of Hindu social economy.
The transcendental and other-worldly aspects of Hindu life and thought
have been made too much of. It has been supposed, proved and believed
during the last century that Hindu civilisation is essentially non-industrial, and
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( xi )
non-political, if not pre-industrial and pre-political, and that its sole feature is
ultra-asceticism and over-religiosity which delight in condemning the 4 World,
the Flesh and the Devil 1 !
Nothing can be farther from the truth. The Hindu has no doubt always
placed the transcendental in the foreground of his life's scheme, but the
Positive Background he has never forgotten or ignored. Rather it is in and
through the positive, the secular, and the material that the transcendental, the
spiritual and the metaphysical have been allowed to display themselves in Indian
culture-history. The Upani$ads, the Veddnia, and the Gitd were not the works
of imbeciles and weaklings brought up in an asylum of incapables and a hospital
of incurables.
The Hindu has never been a 4 scorner of the ground * but always
'true to the Icindred points of heaven and home,' has been solicitous to
enjoy the good things of this earthly earth and beautify this 4 orb of green.'
The literatare, fine arts, religious consciousness, industrial life, political organi¬
sation, educational system, social economy, etc., of the Hindus—all have sought
to realise this synthesis and harmony between the eternal antitheses and
polarities of the universe: the worldly and other-worldly, the positive and
transcendental, the many and the one, the Form and Spirit, Culture and Faith,
Science and Religion, Caste disunions and Vedantic Oneness, Image-worship
and the realisation of the Infinite (Brahma).
In the newly-published SddhanA 1 of Rabindranath Tagore we have a
collection of prose-lyrics, half-poetic and half-philosophic, dealing with this
synthesis of world’s eternal opposites cr dualities. The papers on the
Problem of Evil, Realisation in Love, Realisation in Action , Realisation of
Beauty, in this volume of metaphysical essays in ‘poet’s prose' bring out the
Hindu ideal of harmony between the Finite and the Infinite, Bondage and
Freedom, Necessity or Law and Joy. “The Immortal being manifests himself
in joy-form " («iv^ 44 The joy which is without form, must create,
must translate itself into forms." (P. 104.) It is this ideal, again, that is at
once the inspiration and message of most of Tagore’s Poetry, which thus carries
forward the transcendentalised positivism of the makers of Hindu civilisation
through the ages 44 along fresh fields and pastures new" or modern Bengali
thought. The philosophy of reconciliation between the so-called Evil and
Good, the Form and Spirit, Caste and Vedanta, Image and the Infinite has
thus-uttered itself in mystical Bengali verse :
SJT¥T |
ircftir $ tm
sfiHT JRT 11 ”
This ideal of realising the Infinite in the Finite, the transcendental in
the positive, manifested itself also iii the educational system of Hindu India.
1 Macmillan & Co.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( xii )
The following is reproduced from my Bengali essay read at a Bengal Literary
Conference about two years and a half ago translated subsequently for the * Col¬
legian’ as Pedagogy of the Hindus :
11 Was that system essentially monastic and ascetic, and did it kill all
secular and social instincts of the learners? Did the Brahmach&ris come out
from the preceptors’ homes merely as monks, missionaries and sanydsis?
Could they not satisfy the diverse material wants of man? Did they not know
how to provide for the necessaries, comforts and decencies of life ? Was the
education absolutely non-political ? Did not the students learn how to help in
the administration'of the state ? Were not social and political sciences, plant-
life and dissection of animals, physical phenomena and chemical manipulations
among the courses of instruction ? * * *
“How else can we account for the remarkable progress of the nation in
architecture, sculpture, medicine, dyeing, weaving, shipping, navigation, military
tactics and implements and all such aspects of socio-economic and economico-
political life as have to depend on the help of physical and natural sciences?
* * * The graduates trained up under the 11 Domestic System ” were com¬
petent enough to found and administer states, undertake industrial and commer¬
cial enterprises; they were builders of empires and organisers of business
concerns. It was because of this all-round and manly culture that the people
of India could organise vast schemes of colonisation and conquest, and not
content with being simply confined within the limits of mother India, could
build up a Greater India beyond the seas, and spread culture, religion and
humanity among the subject races. * * *
“ It was under the influence of this system of education, again, that the
ideal Hindu king ” protected himself, but not through fear; followed the
dictates of religion, but not through remorse; realised revenues, but not
through greed, and enjoyed happiness, but not through attachment * f * *
That system certainly cannot be dismissed as inexpansive, inert and unfit
to survive that could produce Risis from Vasistha and Visw&mltra to Ram
Pras&da and R&mkrisga Paramhamsa, scholars from Charaka, P&giui and
Ch&qakya to Chandra Kanta Tark&lankAra—a race of eminent women from
Maitreyi to Ahalya Bai and Ragi BhavSni, monarchs from Chandragupta
Maurya to Swap, and has continuously kept up the genial stream of national
culture and civilisation through diverse forms and agencies by giving rise to
hosts of thinkers and actors capable of solving different problems in different
ages.”
It is because the secular achievements of Hindu civilisation have not
been accorded by scholars the attention they deserve, and a proper estimate of
the Positive Background of Hindu socio-economic and socio-political life has not
been framed, that the distorted picture of a race of metaphysicians, airy philoso¬
phers, and transcendental speculators has been drawn regarding Indian people
to excite the pity of the go-ahead pushing Occident and pander to the foolish,
uuthinking vanity of the present day fallen orient. The Upam^ads, the Veddnta 9
Digitized by (^ooQle
( ?ni )
the Bhakti Sdstras , the Darsanas, the GUd % and the whole body of Hindu trans¬
cendental literature in which people may find the 'solace of their life’ as well as
the 'solace of their death/ cannot, however, be fully appreciated and interpreted
in the true light until and unless we bring to bear upon them the results of
investigations regarding the social, economic, political, international and other
human institutions and ideals, in the midst of which this literature has flourished
and that have actually governed the life and activity of the Hindus. This mass
of metaphysical lore requires, in fact, to be regarded as the " criticism,” as
Matthew Arnold would say, of Indian " life ” and its problems and achievements.
The transcendental speculation has to be understood and explained with refer¬
ence to the milieu and environment according to the philosophico-comparative
methods followed in the Schools of Literary Studies founded by such critics as
Taine, T£dmond Scherer, Sainte Beuve and Dowden. This should really
be looked upon not as the sole but only as one of the various features in the
organic growth and historic evolution of Indian literature, institutions, civics,
arts and industries.
The principal correctives of the one-sided, partial and erroneous view
about Hindu life and ideals, in addition to what we have already stated, are
thus two(i) a more searching and detailed inquiry into the economic, political
and art history of India, and (2) a study, according to the canons of scientific
literary criticism, of the whole literature of Hindusthan, Sanskritic, and Dravi-
dian, Prakrit and vernacular, in both its metaphysical and secular branches.
So far as the secular branches of Sanskrit literature are concerned, it
would not be too much to remark that the adequate parallax for modifying
and correcting the false notions about Hindu genius can be supplied if the
Kdvyas % Ndtyas , Kathds , Purdnas , Tantras, Itih&sas , Vdstuvidyds , Silpasdsiras,
Arthasdstras , Nitisdstras , Dharma-sutras and Smritis were critically investi¬
gated as documents of Indian historico-sociological development. These alone
cannot fail to impress upon the inquirer to what great extent the eternal verities
of tlie universe and the highest problems of life enunciated and discussed in the
Darsanas, Upani?ads, Gitd, &c, have influenced and governed the ordinary
pursuits of human life in India, and embodied in its thousand and one rites,
usages, institutions and festivals; to what enormous proportions the transcend¬
ental culture-lore of the Hindus has been humanised, secularised, and
popularised by being translated and adapted into the common-place folk-lore—
to what depth the Hindu ideal of realising the one in the many, the Infinite
in the Finite, the Ideal in the Real, the Transcendental in the Positive, has
been done into the actual life and work of the people. It will be evident to
every close student of this literature that the synthesis of world's permanent
polarities has been concretely demonstrated and manifested in the ever-moving
gradations of the social polity known as Varndsrama , the Hymeneal rites
and marriage rules, the Joint Family, the Cottage Industry, the autonomous
system of co-operative village commonwealths, the Achdryyakulas , the Paries,
the clastic theological apparatus and religious paraphernalia, the institution of
Digitized by L^ooQle
( xiv )
kingship, and the doctrine of mandala or sphere of international activity that
constitute the complex web of Indian life.
To take only one instance—the Raghuvarjisam of Kalidasa, the immortal
epic of Hindu India. It is impossible to study it from cover to cover without
noticing how powerfully the greatest poet of Hindusthan has sought to depict
this Hindu ideal of synthesis and harmony between the positive and the
transcendental, the ta (Enjoyment) and the run (Renunciation). Raghuvamsam
is the embodiment of Hindu India in the same sense that Paradise Lost is the
embodiment of Puritan England. The grand ambitions of the Vikramadityan
era, its colossal energies, its thorough mastery over the things of this world, its
all-round economic prosperity and brilliant political position, its Alexandrian
sweep, its proud and stately outlook, its vigorous and robust taste are
all graphically painted in this national epic, together with the “ devotion to
something afar from the sphere of our sorrow/’ 1 the light that never was
on sea or land,* the sanydsa, vairdgya, ahimsd, yoga , preparation for the other
world, the idea of nothingness of this world and the desire for mukti or
perpetual freedom from bondage.
This antithesis, polarity or duality has not, however, been revealed to
us as a hotchpotch of hurly-burly and pell-mell conflicts and struggles, but
presented in a serene, sober and well-adjusted system of harmony and
synthesis which gives the “ World, the Flesh and the Devil ” their due, which
recognises the importance and dignity of the secular, the worldly and the
positive, and which establishes the transcendental, not to the exclusion of ,
but only above as well as in and through the civic, social, and economic
achievements.
The greatest example of the Hindu ideal of synthesis, and hence of
world’s highest ideal, is to be found in the picture where K&lid&sa beggars
his hero, the Indian Napoleon, the conqueror of the four quarters, at the end of
his proud digvijaya and 'triumph' by making him perform the vihwajit sacrifice,
which necessitates the giving away of the whole of his earthly belongings ( ^num
fiwfa*) Truly, the greatest artist of Hindusthan has sung of the Synthetic
Ideal of the One in the Many, the Infinite in the Finite, the Transcendental in
the Positive as the sole motto of the House of Raghu
wwwniifam n
wroro w*i«wf.ii *wipi likwif^WH I
^ -T f TT-m ..
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( XV )
The same Vikram&dityan grasp of this mundane sphere, the same vigour
in attacking the problems of secular life, the same human, practical and positive
outlook, the same solicitude for the discharge of the 4 lowliest duties ’ that
characterise the heroes of Kalidasa whose natural ambition was no meaner than
that of swaying not only the lithosphere from sea to sea, but also the atmosphere
and the skies ( y re q y R fl ftqrarorai ), confront us at every step throughout
the Smrfti, Niti, Artha, fjilpa and Vastu Literature. The Lectures of Professor
Sukra, the Doctor of Social Philosophy and Legislation, to his disciples, the
Asuras and Daityas, constitute one of the most important documents of this
literature ; and, as such, socio-economically and economico-politically illustrate
the Kalidasic ideal of harmony between the positive and the transcendental or
realisation of the transcendental in and through the positive.
Strictly speaking, the position of Sukranili in this literature is unique and
unparalleled. It is, in the first place, a manual of guidance to kings and states¬
men, as well as the Bible of the demos—at once the work of a Machiavelli and a
Rousseau. In the second place, it is a handbook of economics, politics, ethics,
and what not.
Ydjnavalkya Smfiti will ever command reverence as a text-book of
Jurisprudence, Manu Satjihitd , because of the sanctity and age associated
with the name of Manu, the first law-giver. So also the Arihasdstra of Kau$ilya,
the Finance Minister of Chandragupta Maurya, the first Empire-builder in Hin-
dusthan, must ever be looked up to by the historian as a contemporary Statute-
Book or Imperial Gazetteer of India in one of the first epochs of her political
consciousness, and as the handiwork of one of the world’s most powerful
statesmen of historic authenticity. But all these venerable documents of Hindu
Positive literature cannot compare in comprehensiveness and encyclopaedic
character with the Niti&dstra of the Professors of the $ukra cycle in the form in
which we have it to-day. And comparatively modern though Sukraniti is, it is
inevitable that Kdmandakt NUt , the abridgment of Kaujilya’s masterpiece, should
pale into insignificance before it. For the whole culture of Hindu India, its
methodology and its achievements have been really compressed into &ukraniti
and have contributed to its making. For the moderners it is of inestimable
value as* 4 lifting the brain-cap ” of mediaeval India and letting them “see the
thoughts” that were moving in her educated mind. As a text-book of Sociology,
the Nitisdstra of Sukracharyya is thus the Spencerian 44 Synthetic philosophy ”
of Sanskrit literature.
The study of Sukraniti is for all these reasons really a study of Hindu
Positivism, the human, secular and worldly elements in Hindu national life and
culture, the place of earthly things, Samsdra , Vdsand , Bhoga] desires, passions
and attachments in the Hindu scheme of human existence—in short, a study of
the positive background and foundations of Hindu Sociology, as opposed to its
transcendental foreground and superstructure.
This work is humbly dedicated to three great masters of modern India who
may be looked upon as pioneers in the study of the secular achievements of
Digitized by L^ooQle
( xvi )
Hindu culture. The celebrated archaeologist and historian, Dr. Rajendralal Mitra,
is undoubtedly the first Indian 1 scholar.’ And yet the comprehensive grasp,
erudition and industry which mark the researches embodied in his Indo-Aryans ,
Antiquities of Orissa and other writings in Journals, remain probably unsur¬
passed even now. It is to Dr. Mitra, the father of the National School of
Indology and Indian historical scholarship, that every student of the positive
branches of Hindu civilisation must begin by paying homage.
The scholar who, likewise, first brought to light the cohtributions of the
Hindus in physical science is Dr. Udaychand Dutt, It is his researches in Hindu
medicine, chemistry, and botany, that have paved the way for subsequent
workers in the same field. And the monographs of Dr. Brajendran&th Seal
(by securing whose services as King George V. Professor of Philosophy the
Calcutta University has only honoured itself) on the Physical , Chemical , and
Mechanical Theories of the Hindus as well as their “ Scientific Methodology ”
(published along with Dr. Roy’s History of Hindu Chemistry\ have done
more than any other work to establish philosophically the claims of Hindus
as having contributed to world’s scientific concepts, categories, and discoveries.
It has been the special mission of Dr. Seal to- demonstrate by the historico-
comparative method that the Hindu explorers of the physical universe were
not mere empirics who, by stretches of brilliant imagination or sage-like
intuition, unconsciously hit upon some of the mysteries of Nature. Nor were
they merely craftsmen, alchemists, industrialists, &c. t engaged in practical
agriculture and manufacture without any knowledge of the general prin¬
ciples and theories, but real scientists, researchers and investigators, who
knew how to manipulate the machinery and logic of 1 exact ’ science and
patiently awaited the results of their observation and experiment.
Tfcus, as Dr. Seal remarks i— u Let us not superciliously dismiss these
studies as 1 learned lumber.’ The astronomy and mathematics were not less
advanced than those of Tycho Brahe, Cardan, and Fermat, the anatomy was
equal to that of Vesalius, the Hindu logic and methodology were more advanced
than that of Ramus and equal on the whole to Bacon’s; the physico-chemical
theories as to combustion, heat, chemical affinity, clearer, more rational and
more original than those of Van Helmont or Stahl, and the Grammar, whether of
Sanskrit or Prakrit, the most scientific and comprehensive in the World before
Bopp, Risk and Grimm.” (Quoted by Dr. P. C. Roy in the Preface to the Second
Edition of Hindu Chemistry , Vol. I).
There are many scholar? from whose writings or discussions with whom
I have derived direct or indirect help and suggestions. I should specially men¬
tion Mr. Haridasa Palit, Research Scholar, District Council of National Educa¬
tion, Malda, Prof. Radhakamal Mookerji, M. A., Krishnath College, Berhampore
(Bengal), Kumar Narendra Nath Law, M.A., B.L., Research Scholar and author,
Calcutta, Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra Das, C.I.E., Tibetan traveller and Chinese
scholar (Darjeeling), Major B. D. Basu, I.M.S. (Retired), versatile scholar and
linguist and learned editor of the 4 Sacred Books of the Hindus Series,’ Mr.
Digitized by L^ooQle
l ami )
Nanda Lai Sinha, M.A.B.L., of the Provincial Civil Service (Behar), Pandits
Yogendra Nath Tarka-S&tfikhya- Veddntatirtka and Vidhu Sekhara S&stri, the
well-known Pali Scholar, Mr. Akyaya Kumar Maitra, B.L^ Director, Varendra
Research Society, Rajshahi, Rai Bahadur Sris Chandra Vasu*, the indefatigable
Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian Scholar, and my friend and colleague at the Bengal
National College, Calcutta, Prof. Radh&kumud Mookeiji, M.A., Premchand
Roychand Scholar.
I have to acknowledge also my deep debt of gratitude to Dr. Seal for his
kindly allowing me to incorporate with this work a few chapters of his
learned monographs on the physical sciences and scientific notions of the
Hindus. It is superfluous to add that his papers on Hindu ideas about plants
and plant-life, Hindu classification of animals, Hindu ideas about Nervous
System, Heredity, Vital Force, &c^ Hindu Mechanics and Hindu Acoustics,
which are being first published through the medium of this work, have consider¬
ably added to its value and importance. The humble author begs to add that thia
has been the only means of rescuing precious treasures from the ravages of
time and moths, which, thanks to the habits of the learned Doctor, have been
often allowed to work havoc upon what would have been epoch-making studies
in ancient Hindu culture that have thus been lost to the world for good.
Books quoted from or summarised for this work have been mentioned in
the footnotes, as well as tabulated in the Bibliography.* It may not, however, be
out of place to state that several vernacular works and periodicals have been
largely drawn upon, and that the following works have been of constant service:
Prof. Aufrecht’s Catalogue Catalogorufn , Dr. Mitra’s I nOo-Aryans, Dr. Ray’s
Hindu Chemistry, Ram Raz’s Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus, Vincent
Smith’s Fine Art in India and Ceylon, Sir Bhandarkar’s Peep into the Early
History of India, the Sanskrit Ms. Yuktikalpatatu , Iyer’s Brihat Saiphitd,
Mookerji’s Indian Shipping and Krishnaswamy Aiyangar’s Ancient India, of
which the chapter devoted to Chola history and administration must be of
more than ordinary interest to students of early mediaeval Indian life.
The libraries to which I am indebted are the National Council of Education
Library at Calcutta, the Public Library at Allahabad and the Library of the
PAnini Office which is specially rich in works on Indian antiquities, Sanskrit
literature and modern science.
Finally, it remains to add that portions of this work were published as
Magazine articles in the Modem Review (Calcutta), Indian Review (Madras),
Collegian (Calcutta), Hindusthan Review (Allahabad), Dacca Review (Dacca),
Amrita Bdsdr Patrikd (Calcutta) and Leader (Allahabad).
Panini Office
(Academy of Indian Research) : BENOY KUMAR SARKAR.
Allahabad.
March is, 1914.
Digitized by L^ooQle
zed by Googl
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(2) Hindu Chemistry Vol. II (1909).
(8) Ras&rpava, Dh&tukriyf and Texts of other Sanskrit Medi¬
cal works.
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xxiii
Hea... ... ... Monograph on Stone Carving and Inlaying in Southern India
(1906).
Report (Bengali) of the North Bengal Literary Conference, held at Malda (1911), published
by the Sdhitya Parifat of Rangpnr (1918)
Routledge ... ... Discoveries and Inventions (18th Bdition, London, 1900).
Roxburgh ... ... Flora Indies (Thacker, Spink & Co., 1874).
Sachs ... ... History of Botany (1580-1860) English Edition (Oxford,
1890).
Sarkar, 8. C. ... ... Meghaduta rendered into English verse with Introduction
and Notes, Panini Office, Allahabad, 1906.
Sastri, MahAmahopAdhyAya (1) Journal of the Asiatic Sooiety of Bengal, No. 1,1895.
HaraprasAda. (2) Proceedings of the Asiatic Sooiety of Bengal for Decem¬
ber, 1894.
(8) Introduction to Vasu’s Modern Buddhism (1912).
Sastri, Subrahmapiya ... (1) JAtakapArijAta (Nirnaya 84gar Press, Bombay, 1908).
(2) Sripatipaddhati (ditto).
Sastri, Pandit Natesa ... Article in the Journal of Indian Art, Vol. Ill, No. 29.
Sayce, Prof. ... ... Hibbert Lectures (Ancient Babylonians^ Fifth Bdition, 1898.
Scholl ... ... The Periplus of the Brythrsean Lea (Longmans, 1912).
Seal, Dr. BrajendranAth ... Mechanical, Physical and Chemical Theories of the Ancient
Hindus in Vol II of Dr. Ray's History of Hindu Chemistry
(Bengal Chemical Works, Ld., 1909).
Sen, Dr. Gananath ... Study of the Medical Science in Ancient India (Sahitya Sabha,
Oalcutta,%M)8)
Sen, Kavirajas Devendra- (1) Charaka Samhitd, Sanskrit Medical work,
nath and Upendranath. (2) Chakradatta, Sanskrit Medical work (Calcutta).
(8) Susruta SamhitA, Sanskrit Medical work.
(4) Bengali Translation of Susruta Samhita, Sanskrit Medical
work (1900, Calcutta).
Sen, Dr. RAmadAsa ... (1) Bengali work, Ratnarahasya (1888, reprinted in 1909).
(2) Agastya MAtam (1888, ditto) Sanskrit Text.
(8) Maniparikfa (1888, ditto) Sanskrit Text.
(4) Bengali work, BhArata rahasya (1885, ditto).
(5) Ratnasangraha, Sanskrit Text.
Sewell ... ... Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagara) 1900', Sonnen-Schein A Co.,
London.
Sidgwiok, Prof. ... (1) Elements of Politics (1891)
(2) Development of European Polity (1908).
Silberrad ... ... Monograph on Cotton Fabrics (U. P., 1898).
8ivadatta ... ... HastyAyurveda of PAlakApya (Anandasram, Poona, 1894)
Smith, Vinoent ... (1) Early History of India (Oxford University Press, Third
Bdition, 1908).
(2) A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon (1911).
Stein ... ... Kalhapa’s RAjatarangini two volumes (Archibald Constable
St Co., 1900).
Taw Sein Ko ... ... Monograph on the Pottery and Glassware of Burma (1894-95).
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m
Thurston ... ... (1) Pearl and Chank Fisheries in the Gulf of Mannar.
(2) Ethnographic Notes in Southern India (Printed by the
Superintendent, Government Press, Madras, 1006).
(8) Monograph on Cotton Fabric Industry (Madras, 1807).
Tilak, BA1 GangAdhara ... The Orion (Bombay, 1808).
Tupper ... ... Stone Carving and Inlaying in the Bombay Presidency
(1006).
Twigg... ... ... Carpet-making in the Bombay Presidency (1007)
VAgbhatAchAryya ... Rasaratna samuchchaya, a Sanskrit Medical work (AnandAs-
ram, Poona, 1901).
Vaidya ... ... Epic India (Radhabai Atmaram Sagoon, Bombay, 1907).
Vasu, NagendranAtha ... Modem Buddhism (1912) (Calcutta).
Vasu, Srischandra ... (1) YAjnavalkya Smriti (Paninl Office, Allahabad).
(2) Folk Tales of Hindusthan (Ditto).
Vidyabhushan, Rajendra- KAlidAsa (1908, Calcutta),
nath.
Viswako$a, Bengali Encyclopedia Indies (Calcutta) Vols. XVI, IX.
Wales ... ... Monograph on Wood Carving (Bombay, 1902).
Watt ... ... Dictionary of the Economic Products of India (Superintendent
of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1889-1896).
Weber ... ... History of Indian Literature.
Weir ... ... The Historical Basis of Modem Europe (1760-1815) London,
Sonne Schein & Co., 1886.
Whitney and Lanman ... Atharva-Veda (Harvard Oriental Series, Vols. 8 and 9,1905).
Williams, Monier ... Hinduism.
Wilson, Professor ... Vishnu Pur A pa, (London, Triibner & Co., 1868).
N.B.—The Text of Sukrantti translated and used for this work is that edited by
Dr, Gustav Oppert for Madras Government in 1882. And the references are always to
l(ties, not to slokas. Thus Sukra. IV, ii, 181, indicates 1. 181 of section ii of chapter iv.
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THE POSITIVE BACK-GROUND OF .
HINDU SOCIOLOGY.
BOOK l— NON-POLITICAL.
CHAPTER I.
RELATIVITY OP THE NiTIS ASTRAS.
Section i.
Hindu Culture and Sociology in SdkranUu
The Greek philosopher Plato was for some time tutor to a king of Syracuse
in Sicily. Machiavelli, the Florentine diplomat, who has bequeathed his name
to a school of politicians, was the author of a work that proved to be the
Bible of kings and princes in mediaeval Italy and Europe. The 4 School-master 1
of Roger Ascham was written for the princesses of an English royal family.
The sage Sukracharyya, or at any rate, his now de plume , belongs to the same
gallery of world’s Rdf gurus or royal tutors. And his Nitisdstra or 4 Treatise
on Morals’ is dogmatically asserted to be the sole authoritative 1 text-book
on Political Science that should be used by Hindu kings and statesmen.
This opinion of Sukrach&ryya about the position of Nilisdstra has been
referred to by Kamandaka also (II. 5): 44 According to the school of Usanag
(Sukra) there is only one division of learning, namely Dandaniti\ and the
origin of all kinds of learning lies in this one.” It would, therefore,
be interesting to find out for which Hindu Court or Courts this manual
was intended, or which supplied data for the rules and generalisations
embodied in it.
The scope of a Nitisastra is more or less like that of a Dharma-sutra or
Dharma-sdstra, one of the three divisions of Kalpa-sutra, which is one of the
Six Vedangas or auxiliaries to Vedas. The province and relative position.
of Dharma-sutra in Sanskrit literature are thus described by Oldenberg: 1
1 Chapter IV, Section vii. 851-6.
* Introduction to the Qrihyasutras of Gobhil*, Hiranyakesin etc, in the Sacred Booty
0 / the Bast Series xxxiii—iv.
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11 The frame within which the exposition of the Dharma-sutras is enclosed is
an essentially broader one than in the case of the Grihya Sutras.* * The same
phenomenon may also be observed in Buddhist Vinaya literature, where the
exposition of the life of the community was at first given only in connection
with the explanation of the list of sins (P&timokkha).* * It was not till later
that a more comprehensive exposition, touching all the sides of the life of the
community was attempted * * The Grihyasutras begin to treat of the events of
the daily life of the household,** confine themselves principally to the ritual or
sacrificial side of household life, as is natural owing to their connexion with
the older ritualistic literature (Srauta Sutra). Then the Dharma-sutras take
an important step further; their purpose is to describe the whole of the rites
and customs which prevail in private, civil and public life. They naturally
among other things touch upon the ceremonies treated in the Grihyasutras,
but they generally merely mention them and discuss the question of law and
custom which are connected with them, without undertaking to go into the
technical ordinances as to the way in which these ceremonies are to be per¬
formed.* *
It may be doubted at the outset if the class of writings called Dharma-
sAstras, Arthas&stras, and Nitis&stras to which Sukraniti belongs were (i) the
work of a single individual or school, and (2) were ever the Gazetteers designed
to embody the actual state of things, or Statute-Books meant for the guidance
of the people and rulers of any particular epoch or region. It may be presumed
that like Plato's Republic and Laws , Moore's Utopia , and Harrington's Oceana ,
Sukraniti is the product of the same inspiration that has lain at the bottom of
all efforts to portray the ideal constitution of * nowhere ', describing things
• that never were on sea or land' in the history of world's speculative litera¬
ture. Thus about Manu Samhitd , Elphinstone remarks : “ We must remember
that a code is never the work of a single age, some of the earliest and rudest
laws being preserved and incorporated with the improvements of the most
enlightened times.** Even if the whole code referred to one period it would
not show the real state of manners. Its injunctions are drawn from the model
to which it is wished to raise the community, and its prohibitions from the
worst state of crime which it was possible to apprehend * * * Though early
adopted as an unquestionable authority for the law, I should scarcely venture
to regard it as a code drawn up for the regulation of a particular state under
the sanction of a government It seems rather to be the work of a learned
man, designed to set forth his idea of a perfect commonwealth under Hindu
institutions." 1
According to this view it may be inappropriate to trace the production
of Sukraniti to the' patronage or influence of any of the numerous polities
and royal courts in Hindu India. But even the most idealistic literature is
not absolutely independent of age and clime. The Time-Spirit and Place-Spirit
are too powerful to be totally ignored by human genius even if it consciously
1 History of India , p. 12 (1889).
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attempt it. The social environment and physical surroundings—both the
aspects of the great envelope of man—cannot but leave their marks upon
his intellectual consciousness and literary activities of any considerable magni¬
tude. Leaving aside for the present, therefore, the most vexed of all questions
in Indian history, the determination of the personality, identity and individuality
of our author, we propose to investigate all the social and physical influences
that are likely to have contributed to the making of Sukraniti , as available from
a study of the data furnished by it. This investigation is really a study of
the education received by our author himself, and of the literature drawn upon
by him in the preparation of his work, in one word, a presentation of the whole
culture embodied in, and pre-supposed by, Sukraniti, A study of this culture,
and the 14 relativity ” of Sukraniti to this envelope of physical and social
forces and influences, would, however, incidentally furnish some of the evidenc¬
es pointing to the age and locale of the work.
The relativity of Sukraniti to the social influences may be easily presumed
like that of Manu Samhitd , as has been done by Elpbinstone: " It is evident
that it incorporates the existing laws, and any alterations it may have intro¬
duced with a view to bring them up to its pre-conceived standard of perfection,,
must still have been drawn from the opinions which prevailed when it was
written." So also the influence of physical and geographical factors on the
work, and consequently its “ relativity ” to a particular region of the earth’s
surface cannot be missed.
Section 2 .
Land marks in the History oj Hindu Political Development.
Even superficial* students of Sukraniti do not fail to perceive that the
Executive system, Judiciary, Military administration as well as other incidents
of social, economic and political life described in it indicate a high degree of
development, and are adapted not to simple village-republics and tribal common¬
wealths or city-states that we meet with in certain periods of Indian and
European history, but are the outcome of the complex requirements of 1 country-
states or Imperial organisations.
Now Ancient and Mediaeval History of India furnishes the following more
important types of political life that have evolved in connexion with the magni¬
ficent kingdoms or empires of the Hindus
1. The Maurya Empire of Chandragupta and Asoka ( 4 th and 3rd centuries
B.C.) embracing modern Afghanistan, the whole of Upper India, and Southern
India, excluding the extreme south (Chola. Piudya, Kerala, Satyaputra and
Ceylon).
2. The Gupta Empire (4th century A. D.) which was brought to an end
by the incursions of the Huns.
3. The Empire of Harsavardhana (7th century A.D.) in Upper India
during the latter part of whose reign Houen Thsang, the great master of Law
from China, travelled in India.
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4. The Empire of the Ch&Iukyas and R&shtrakutas in the Deccan 1 (fifth
to fourteenth century A. D.)
5. The Empire of the Cholas in Southern India beyond the Deccan
(ninth to fourteenth century A.D.).
Says Mr. Vincent Smith in his Introduction to Mr. Aiyangar’s 4 Ancient
India : *
“ The Ohola dynasty was singularly prolific in kings of more than ordinary capacity,
from the middle of the ninth century to the end of the reign of Kolutunga in A. D. 1118.
It is clear from the details on record that the administration of the kingdom was * highly
systematised ’ from an early date. For instance, there is abundant evidence that the lands
under cultivation were carefully sjurveyed and holdings registered at least a century
before the famous Domesday record of William the Conqueror. The re-survey of
1080 was exactly contemporaneous with the English record.
The Cholas were great builders; builders not only of cities and temples but also
of Irrigation works.”
According to Mr. Aiyangar in Ancient India , 44 this is the period of high
water-mark of Hindu progress all round. Modern Hinduism assumes the
shape in which we find it to-day. The indigenous literature as well as classi¬
cal Sanskrit receive considerable patronage. Religion has been re-adjusted
to the requirements of the masses, and administration had come to be
highly organised upon surprisingly modern lines. Revivalism In religion
and re-invigoration were the order of the day.” The story of one of the greatest
monarchs of this period, Rajendra Chola (1013—1042), the son of Rfijar&ja the
great, who, according to the inscriptions, carried his arms successfully across
Kalingam, subdued Dakkana Lfitam, Vangaladesam, and the territory of Dharma-
ptla, fought battles on the Ganges and in Burma, and earned the proud surname
of Gang&ikonda Chola, has been preserved in the Kanarese work, Rdja Sekhara
Vil&sam. At the commencement of the 13th century the great Chola Empire
was dismembered between the Y&davas of Deogiri, K&k&tiyas of Orangal,
Hoys&las of Dwfirsamudra and other petty chieftains.
6. The Empire of the ’ Pfilas and their successors at Gauda in Bengal
(8th to 12th centuries A. D.)* synchronous with the ascendancy of the
Chalukyas in the Deccan and the Cholas in the South*
44 The period embraced by the long reigns of Dharmapila and of hi$
son Devap&la covers nearly a century, including the period spent in consoli¬
dating the district of Bengal by Gopfila after his election by the people.” This
Was a period of the greatest activity of the Bengali people in various departments,
as will appear from the monumental relics discovered and collected by the
Varendra Research Society. This period has another importance, as we know
from the book of Lfimfi T&rfinfitha, that during these long reigns of Dharmap&la
1 For an account of the Pallava, Chola, Ch&lukya, Rfishtrakuta and other king¬
doms in South India, see Aiyangar’s Ancient India , pp. 81-88, 158—191.
’ For an account of the hegemony of the P£las in Northern India as successors of
Harsavardhana to Imperial titles and pretensions see the Bengali publications of the
Vfirendra Research Society of Rfijsh&hi, and Mr. R. D. Banerji’s Memoir s of the Pdlae
(Asiatic Society of Bengal.)
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and of his son DevapAla, u an eastern school of sculpture and painting wad
established by Dhimana born in Varendra, and by his son VitapAla. * * * The
reputed minister enabled his master Dharmap&la originally a lord only of the
Eastern quarter, to extend his dominions to all the quarters, * * * over
all the territories between the Himalayas on the north and Vindhya mountains
on the south between the two seas * * * The Lord of Gauda (probably
Devapdla ’) 'suppressed the Utkalas, humbled the Hunas, and crushed the pride
of the Lords of Drfivida* and Gutjara.”
It may be observed, in passing, that these"recent researches of Indian scholars
in the mediaeval history of Eastern and Southern India from archaeological, lin¬
guistic, commercial and other standpoints have unearthed important facts of
Bengali and Tamil antiquities which prominently demand recognition in the
standard works on Indian culture-history. The Palas and Cbolas of mediaeval
India can no longer be treated as subordinate or petty princes ruling over the
" Smaller kingdoms ” in one of the so-called periods of disintegration which
Indian history is said to repeat after every epoch of consolidation; but must be
ranked as by no means inferior, in prestige, titles, pretensions, influences, and
achievements, to the famous Vardhanas of the 7th cent. A.D., the Guptas of the
4th-5th cent. A.D. and the Mauryas of the 4tb-3rd cent. B.C. Dharmapdla
(c 800 A.D.) the Buddhist Emperor of Eastern India, with his immediate
predecessors and successors, as well as Rajendra Chola, the great 6aiva monarch
of the South, with his predecessors and successors, constitute two remarkable
contemporary Imperial families which must have a place by the side of such
renowned Indian Napoleons, Empire-builders, and statesmen as Chandragupta
Maurya, Asoka, the benevolent 4< Caesaro-papist,” Chandragupta the Gupta,
Samudragupta the Vikramfiditya, and Harsavardhana, who preceded them
in solving the same problems of administration, commerce, religion and culture
on the stage of Hindusthan. The Drama of Indian History should, therefore,
have its first Act closed not at the end of the 7 th century with the passing
away of the Vardhanas from Kanauj and Upper India, but really at the end
of the lath century (1193) with the overthrow of the successors of Palas
in Eastern India by a lieutenant of Muhammad Ghori, and at the beginning
of the 14th century (1310) with the overthrow of the successors of Cholas by a
lieutenant of Alauddin Khilji.
The Hindu Period of Indian history does not end with Harsavardhana
(7th cent.) and the subjugation by Mussalmans of certain Rajput States in
t See the reading of the GaruQd stambha inscription interpreted by Maitra in
* The Stones of Varendra 1 in the Modern Review for August, 1912.
• An important historical pnszle that awaits final solution is the relation between
the Oholas and P&las in the 10th century. South Indian tradition points to the overthrow
of the Bengalis by the Tamil Napoleon, Bast Indian tradition points quite otherwise. The
Varendra School evidently accepts the overthrow of the Dravidians by the PAlas, as here
and also in Chanda’s work, QauQa Rdjam&ld ; 8outh Indian scholars, however, accept the
overthrow of the P&las and Vangalas as a historical fact (cf. Aiyangar’s Ancient India).
Prof. Mookerji records the Tamil View on pp. 174-177 of his Indian Shipping. See also
R, D. Banerji’s Memoirs of the PaUis of Bengal, G. No. I (Asiatic Society of Bengal).
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Western India in the 10th and nth centuries. 1 For the social expansion, reli¬
gious assimilation, commercial progress, and imperial achievements which we
are wont to associate with the brightest eras of Hindu national history were
going on in Eastern and Southern Hindusthan, unhampered as of yore, along
the natural lines of progressive evolution up till the 13th and 14th centuries,
while the buffer-princes of Lahore, Delhi, Ajmere, Kanauj, Mal wa and Gujrat
were performing their duties as by position the gate-keepers of India against
the inroads of aggressive Islam.
The period of the mighty P&Jas and Cholas and their successors has
witnessed the solution of problems which are of paramount importance in
Indian history, literature, fine arts, philosophy, and religion. For it was during
this age that the ocean of Tantraism finally swallowed up in a common philosophy
the divergent channels of MahAydna Buddhism and latter-day Brahmanism; that
Vaisnavism and &aivaism—the corner-stones of modern Hindu life-received
the official stamp; the parents of present-day vernaculars were encouraged
and‘protected*; noble religious edifices were built, huge-sealike tanks were
excavated ; magnificent images were sculptured in bronze and stones; the
navigation of the sea was pushed forward, commercial and cultural intercourse
between the Southerners and Easterners was promoted ; and India became really
the School of Asia by supplying faith, literature, fine arts and material neces¬
saries to China, Nepal, Tibet, Japan, Java, Burma and other lands beyond the
seas. This period does, in fact, carry forward and develop the impulses,
aspirations and tendencies of Hindu national life testified to by the Chinese
Master of Law in Haniavardhana’s time.
The Palas and Cholas are really the spiritual successors of the great Empire-
builder and statesman of the 7 th century. The epoch of their hegemony in Indian
history is a brilliant sequel to the splendid epoch of Imperialism, religious
toleration, maritime activity, and social amalgamation which it had been the
policy of the great Harsa to pioneer and direct. Their services to the making of
Indian national culture deserve the same meed of homage, therefore, from future
historians as those of Sri Harsa.
And now that excavations, explorations, reading and interpretation of
old vernacular manuscripts, copper-plate inscriptions, architectural monuments,
numismatics, study of folklore, folk-songs, folk-arts and village traditions, Sans¬
krit literature, old sculptures and paintings, call up before us a picture of political
and religious life, commercial and social intercourse, art-development, and liter¬
ary progress no less definite and clear than what we have for any other period
of Indian history, the necessity, of looking upon the Pala-Chola period* as the
really last phase of Hindu India cannot be too strongly advocated.
7. The Kingdoms of the Rajputs which beginning in the 9th or 10th
centuries have continued their existence even now.
1 See Vincent Smith's Early History (second edition, pp. 830-331).
* Another oft-neglected period of Indian history—one of the so-called epochs of
dissolution and decentralisation is the Andhra-Kushan age of Hindu national life.
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8. The Kingdom of Kashmir which was ruled by Hindu kings till about
the middle of the fourteenth century.
9. The Kingdom of Vijayanagara, called the ‘Forgotten Empire* of the
South in Mussalman times, the only important seat of Hindu culture in
Mediaeval India (14th—16th century A.D,).
10. The Empire of Mah&r&stra under the Peshwas (18th century A. O.)
whose administrative system has been elaborately described by the late
Mr. Justice Ranade in his Rise of the Marat ha Power.
These larger and more celebrated kingdoms and empires of the Hindus
have flourished through over two thousand years of recorded history and
in conditions of physical environment as varied as possible in a country like
India, the ‘epitome of the world.' The types of political organisation, there¬
fore, that Indian history presents must be more or lestf*diversified in character
to meet the requirements of peoples living under diverse geographical and
topographical influences. And one naturally expects a diversity of political
codes or Nitisdstras or manuals of governmental rules. Inspite of the oneness
and basic uniformity of Hindu life throughout India, the text-book of political
life evolved in the extreme north, say Kashmir, is not likely to be that exactly
adjusted to the needs of the Dravidians of the extreme south. Or again the
rules and regulations which the Marathas framed for themselves in the west
of India towards the close of the Mussalman period could not be copied in toto
from a chapter of the Nitisdsfra that was taught, say, to the Pala Kings of
Bengal in pre-Mussalman times. Politics like everything else of human life
are the results of adaptation to the circumstances of time and place; and the
history of a people has ever been powerfully influenced by the geography and
topography of its habitat.
An analysis of the geographical facts and phenomena occurring in the
Hindu Nitisdstras or treatises on morals (social, economic and political) is
therefore likely to be an important factor in assigning each to the proper sets
of physical and social conditions under which it was composed.
Section 3.
Milestones in the History oj Hindu Political Speculation.
(a) Arthasdstra .
There is no difficulty about the Arthasdstra of Ch&nakya or Kautilya,
the Minister of Chandragupta Maurya who for the first 1 time in Indian
history conceived and executed the plan of a vast Empire, the limits of which
it has not been possible for any monarch to reach or exceed.
Like Abul Fazl's Ayeen Akbari y the Arthasdstra may be looked upon as
the Imperial Gazetteer of India in one of the most remarkable periods of
1 In the Fundamental Unity of India (Longmans Qreen & Co.) Prof. Mookerji traces the
Hindu conception of Imperialism and paramount Sovereignty from Vedic times {vide
Chapters XIX—XXIX).
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Indian culture-history. The chapters of this monumental document are devoted
exclusively to a description of the multifarious incidents of political life
under Chandragupta’s government, e.g. the working of the mines, the opening
of irrigation works, the establishment of factories; the maintenance of
preserves and grazing grounds, of high ways of commerce, waterways, .land*
routes, and other facilities for communication; the establishment of markets
and stores; the construction of embankments, dams and bridges; the planting
of fruit and flower trees, of medicinal plants and herbs (i>. the establishment
of Ayurvedic and pharmaceutical gardens); protection of the disabled, the
helpless and the infirm, and also of beasts &c., famines, census, central and
municipal government, livestock and many other social, juristic and economic
institutions.
In the Introduction to Mr. Law's Hindu Polity 1 Prof. Radhakumud
Mookerji of the National Council of Education, Bengal, has summarised the
arguments which may be advanced in support of the traditional and widely
current view that the Arthasastra of Kautilya is the work of Chaqakya the
minister of Chandragupta and therefore belongs to the 4th century B.C. ,r
The writer has proved from both external and internal evidences—
(1) That the political connexion of Kautilya with Chandragupta as his
Finance Minister is a fact an^l not a myth.
(2) That the Arthasdstra attributed to Kautilya is a genuine work of
antiquity and not a traditionally handed down fable.
(3) That the work is the production of an individual author and not
of a school, as is frequently the case with Indian treatises.
(b) JCdmandaki Nut .
The work of K&mandaka* is undoubtedly an abridged edition of Artha
Sdatra , and the author himself is supposed to have been the disciple of Kautilya.
A flood of light is thrown on the age and personality of the author of Kamath
daki Niti from a reportsubmitted by Dr. Frederick to the Batavian Society
of Arts and Sciences on the Sanskrit literature of Bali. “ It appears that the
most popular work on Polity in that Island is entitled HCdmandakfya Niti Sdra .•
The researches of Sir Stamford Raffles and Crawford shew that the predomi¬
nance of Buddhism in the Island of Java obliged the Hindu inhabitants of that
place to retire in the fourth century of the Christian era with their household
gods and their sacred scriptures to the island of Bali. * * * It has also been
shewn by the same authorities that since the period of their exile, they had
not any religious intercourse with India. It would therefore follow that the
Sanskrit works now available in Bali, including the Kdmandakiya Niti are
of a date anterior to the 4th century A.D.”
As a document of sociological information, this work is less valuable than
Sukroniti . Its importance has, however, to be noticed because of the Cbdnakydn
1 Law’s Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (1914 Longmans Green and Go., London).
9 KAmondakiyu Niti Sdra published by Manmatha Nath Datta (Calcutta, 1899},
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Doctrine of Mandala or 44 sphere of political activity and influences,” which is not
to be found in Sukra’s work.
(c) Other works.
The difficulties with regard to the other extant (or published) treatises
are immense, especially because we do not know of any other political fabric
that has left its own Statute-Book. Yuktikalpataru and Sukraniti are the two
exclusively socio-economic and socio-political treatises that we have come
across up till now. Accounts of economic and political theories as well as
practices are also to be met with in almost every branch of Sanskrit literature
Some of the Purdnas , all the Smritisdstras, Manusamhitd , Mahdbhdrata ,
Rdmdyana, Panchatantra , Raghuvanka , Kirdtdrjunlyam , Hitopadeka , Data -
kumdracharita , together with treatises devoted to Dhanur Veda or Warfare
and International Laws, notices of which are found in the celebrated
Catalogus Catalogorum of Prof. Aufrecht, are especially rich in the subject-
matter of Nitisasfras.
Several such works are the following
Nltiprakajika, Harivanrfa, UtpalaparimAlA, Charapavyuha, Krispavidyd-
bhyasa prakarapa, Sankalpasuryyodaya, Prasangaratndvali by MAdhavardma,
K&masQtra (VatsAyana), Vidura-niti, Vaisampayana Ntti, and Brihatsamhita.
There is, besides, a Nitisastra attributed to one Ghatakarpara mentioned
by Stein in Kashmir Catalogue (p. 93). In the statement of sources for his
series of learned papers on Hindu Polity contributed to the Modem Review
(1913), Mr. K. P. Jayaswal mentions Nili-Vdkydmrila 1 and the Marathi
work Ddsa~bodha % % the Bible of Sivaji, and refers to several Buddhist and
Jaina texts. Some allusions to ancient civics are to be found in the Jaina
works, Nandi Sutra , and Riyi mandala Prakaranavritti quoted by Prof. R. K.
Mookerji in the Introduction to Law’s Hindu Polity .
(d) Smriti Sdstras .
The names of Smriti Sastras are given from Vasu’s Ydjnavalkya
Smriti, Book I, Chapter I, Introduction 4-5 in the 41 Sacred Books of the Hindus
Series.”
“ Manu, Atri, Vispu, Harita, Yajftavalkya, Uianas, Angiras, Yama,
Apastamba, Samvarta, Katyayana, Bphaspati.
Para£ara, Vyasa, Sankha, Likhita, Daksa, Gautama, &tgtapa, and
V&sistha are the promulgators of Dharma ffestras.”
The Mitaksara Commentary on the above is as follows:—
41 This Dharma 6astra propounded by Yajnyavalkya should also be
studied, such is the implied meaning of the above passage.
1 Of. Samadeva 1. Edited in the Kasyamata series.
* Mr. Jayaswal gives the English title of this work as 44 Address to the Enslaved.*'
Really, it should be 44 The Awakening (or Enlightenment) of RAma DAsa.”
2
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41 This is not an exhaustive enumeration (patisankhyd ), but it is merely
illustrative. Therefore, the Dharma Sastras of Baudhayana and others are
not excluded.
u As each of these Smritis possesses authority, so the points not
mentioned by one, may be supplied from the others.
“ But if one set of Institutes contradicts the other, then there is an
option (to follow any one of them).” 1
BAlambhatta's Gloss on the above furnishes much interesting information on the
subject.
Devala gives the following list of the Dharma-SAstras1. Mann, 2. Yama.
8 . Yasiftha. 4. Atrl, 6. Dak$a, 6. Visnu, 7. AfigirA, 8. UsanA, 9. YAkpati, 10. VyAsa;
1L Apastamba, 12. Gautama, 18. EAtyfiyana, 14. NArada, 15. .YAjfiyavalkya, 16. ParA-
aara, 17. Samvarta, 18'. feankha, 19. HArita, 20. Likhita.
In this list NArada is an addition, while in the YAjuyavalkya*s list we have
SAtAtapa instead.
The Bankha gives the following list:—1. Atri, 2. Bfihaspati, 8. Us anas, 4.
Apastamba, 5. Vasistha, 6. EAtyAyana, 7. ParAsara, 8. VyAsa, 9. Sankha, 10. Likhita,
11. Samvarta, 12. Gautama, 18. BAtAtapa, 14. HArita, 15. YAjfiyavalkya, 16. Prachetas
and the rest. By the phrase “and the rest” is meant 17. Budha, 18. Devala, 19.
Sumantu, 20. Jamadagni, 21. YisvAmitra, 22. PrajApati, 23. Paithinasi, 24. PitAmaha,
25. BaudhAyana, 26. ChhAgaleya, 27. JAbAla, 28. Chyavana, 29. Marichi, 80. Easyapa.
In the Bhavisya PurAna we find the following addressed by Isvara to Guha:—
“Having pondered over the texts of the eighteen PurAnas, O child, and over the
texts ef the Smritis, beginning with Manu and which are thirty-six in number, I
now tell thee.*.
[This shows that the Smritis are 86 in number.] The Smritis like the 1. Vriddha-
BAtAtapa, 2. Yogi—YAjfiyavalkya ' 3. Vriddha-Vasistha, 4. Ypiddha-Manu, 5. Laghu-
HArita, Ac., should be included in the well-known thirty-six under their original
authors. [Thus Manu includes the ordinary and the Yriddha Manu, and so on.] Thus
YAjfiyavalkya says (III. 110) “ 1 have declared the science of Yoga.”
RatnAkara says: “we find in the Bhavisya PurAna itself the enumeration of
other Smritis like Gobhila, Risya Sringa, Ac., which are over and above the thirty-
six ; so we conclude that thirty-six does not exhaust the number of Smritis, but is
only an' enumeration made by the Sistas.” Those which are found as Grihya Sfitras
and their Parisiftas, Ac., they belong to a different Category : like the PurAnas. As
in the Bhavisya:—“ The MaitrAyaniya, the Chhandogya, the Hatha, the Apastamba, the
Bhavrichas, their Parisistas and those called Ehilas (are also Smritis).'’
The Visnu-Dharma, the Biva-Dharma, the MahAbhArata, and the RAmAyana and
the rest are also to be included among Smritis. As says the Bhavisya“ The
eighteen PurAnas, the history of RAma (RAmAyana), the Yi$nu-Dharma-SAstra, Ac.,
the s’iva-Dliarma; the fifth Yeda called the MahAbhArata composed by Erifna-
DvaipAyana, the Sauradharma, the Manavokta Dharma, are also taken as such by
the wise,” (adhyAya 4, v. 87-88).
1 See Manu, II, 14, for conflict of B'ruti, Ac.
“ But when two sacred texts (Bruti) are conflicting both are held to be law;
for both are pronounced by the wise to be valid law.”
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The words “as such” in the above mean that they are also followed by the
great men, and are authoritative, because they are not decried or dispraised by any
and followed by great men, so they are to be taken also as Smjutia. The opinion
that the Sm.ritis are thirty-six only in number, or twenty-four only in number, is
held only by some and is contradicted by others, and is not authoritative.
That the Smpitis are Dharma-Sfistras (Institutes of Sacred Law) we learn from
Manu II. 10, where it is said “ The Vedas should be known as Sruti; and the Dharma-
6 Astras as Smfiti.”
In Angiras we find“ The wise say that the following are Upa-Smritis
JAbAli, NAchiketa, Chhandas, LaugAksi, Kasyapa, VyAsa, Sanat KumAra, Satadru,
Janaka, VyAghra, KAtyAyana, Jatukarnya, Eapifijala, BaudhAyana, Kan Ada, and
VisvAmitra.”
In HemAdri Dana Khan da the following more are enumerated: “Vatsa, PAras*
kara, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Risyasringa, Atreya, Babhru, VyAghra, Satyavrata;
BharadvAja, GArgya, KArsnAjini, LaugAksi, and Brahma-Sambhava."
The Smpitis of PrajApati, Yama, Budha, and Devala which are enumerated in
Kalpataru are quoted by HemAdri as authority in the course of other authorities.
The Kalpataru holds that the four sciences mentioned in the Vifnu PurAna
(III 6.26) as they relate to positive physical sciences should be taken as authority
and Dharma in matters worldly. Those sciences are “the Ayurveda (Medicine),
the Dhanurveda (Archery), the GAndharvaveda (Music), and the Artha 8Astra (the
science of wealth)—thus the sciences are altogether eighteen" (Visnu PurAna,
HI. 2. 26).
So also in the Saiva PurAna, the VAyaviya Samhita, chapter one, it is said:
“ O Romaharsana! O all-knowing! thou hast obtained through good luck a complete
knowledge of all the PurAnas from VyAsa. The four Vedas, the six Angas, the
MimAmsA, the NyAya, the PurAna and the Dharma Sastra are fourteen VidyAs. The
Ayurveda (medicine), the Dhanurveda (Archery), the GAndharvaveda (Music) and
the Artha 8Astra (the science of wealth) are the additional four, making the VidyAs
eighteen. Of all these eighteen Vidyas, treating of different topics, the original
author and direct prophet is the Trident-handed Siva: such is the saying." (Siva
PurAna, I. 23).
Though all these are sources of law, yet all of them do not deal with all matters ;
and sometimes they contradict each other. Therefore, the commentator says that,
though each of them is an authority, yet the lacunse of one should be supplied from
the other, where one is incomplete; and where they differ there is option. Manu
has also taught this option in II. 14: “ But when two sacred texts (Srutis) are con¬
flicting, both are held to be law; for both are -pronounced by the wise to be valid
law.”
(e) Traditional Abridgment of Niti ScLstras.
The Smriti Sastras have for their subject-matter a greater amount
of socio-religious topics than are usually dealt with in Niti Sastras. Their
authorship is, besides, attributed to Rishis, as we have seen in the
previous enumeration. The Rishi upon whom our work has been fathered
is mentioned in the above list as Uianas. It is believed that Uianas or SukrA-
charyya was the last of the Rishis who meddled in Polity ; and that since
his time the whole science of morals (social, economic and political) called
Niti Sdstras has been designated after him.
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Sukrichiryya himself records the history of the abridgment of Ntti
SAstras towards the commencement of cur work: 41 For the good of
men Brahma had spoken that treatise on morals which contained 100
lakhs t\e. f 10 million slokas. By a process of selection the essence of that
Ntti Sdstra , which was an extensive argumentative thesis, has been com¬
piled in an abridged form by Vasistha and others like myself for the
increase of prosperity of rulers of the earth and of others whose life is of
short span.' 1
The same tradition 1 is otherwise stated thus: u Formerly for the
protection of creatures Brahma wrote the science of Polity in ten million
chapters. Siva obtained this from Brahma and epitomised it in ten thousand
chapters. His work is called Vaisalaksya from his name (Visalaksa or
large-eyed). Indra made an abridgment of it in five thousand chapters, and
Sukra Into one thousand. Thus it was gradually abridged by the various
sages having in view the shortened life of the people around them.’'
(/) Yukti-Kalpataru.
The association of gods and Rishis with the works on Ntti and
allied topics, and the tradition about their vast size and large number, as
well as the custom of attributing works to one*s gurus make the problem of
a systematic treatment of Hindu political science all the more difficult.
Equally puzzling is the association of works with historical characters,
men of real flesh and blood, round whom, however, legends like those of
Alexander and Charlemagne have grown up mystifying their age, locale as
well as personality. One such work is the Yukti Kalpataru , giving “an
account of all requirements in a royal court,” as Professor Aufrecht
observes. The work is still in manuscript, but was first noticed by Dr. Rajen-
dralal Mitra, and since his time, has been drawn upon by Indologists
in their treatment of things Indian, specially secular matters. The work
is attributed to Kin£ Bhoja (Vikram&ditya ?) of Dhara in Malwa and has
been described by the author as compiled from nivandhas or treatises of
various munis or masters on the subjects. The following account of the
work is being given from the manuscript (108 leaves), written in Bengali
character, belonging to Mah&mahopadhyaya Adityar&ma Bhattacharya, now
in the possession of the Panini Office.*
The botanical name of the work has been explained at the beginning
just after the salutation to Krishna, 11 the Parameswara, who by undoing
the happiness of. Kansa did really promote his happiness, who is worship¬
ped by the gods and is really unadorable,” and to the “ makers of Sastras
whose words purify good men, even for the hearing.” Just as a Kalpa -
vrikfa or the wishing-tree (like the wishing-cow) celebrated in Hindu
religious lore yields the satisfaction of all desires, so “ wise men by
resorting to this Kalpataru (the treatise so called) can achieve the most
longed-for objects.” “The root of this tree is Danda ntti (the science of
1 J)utt*s K&mandakiya Niti Sdra. (Calcutta, 1890.)
’The work is being edited by the present author.
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punishment), the stem is Jyotisha (implying Astronomy, Astrology, Horos-
copy and Mathematics according to the conception of the Hindus), the
branches and flowers are the diverse vidyds which deal with the facts
observed (or the phenomenal world), the fruits are unknown and the rasa
or sap is the nectar of the good, **., promotes their welfare/* “That
Kalpataru should be respected by Kings and ministers, who should study
their interests and deliberate on them according to its dictates as well as
those of other sflstras/* “ This is most conducive to the welfare of Kings
and promotes also the weal of others,” (/>., people).
Thus the very definition of the term Yukti Kalpataru as the title of
a book introduces the topics of a Niti Sdstra ; and, as a matter of fact,
all the subjects dealt with in the work are the proper themes of works
like Sukrantti. The following table of contents in the Yukti Kalpataru
would indicate that the work is, like the Artha Sdstra % Kdmandaki NUt\
Sukrantti , and Ghatakarparantti , really a socio-economic and socio-political
treatise, and is an additional document of Hindu secular literature in the
department of Dharmasutras, Arthasdstras or Niti Sastras :
i. Niti Sastra. 2. Guru (Preceptor) and Purohita (Priest). 3. A maty a
(Land Revenue officer), Mantri (Foreign minister) and Duta (ambassador). 4.
Lekhaka (scribe) and Jyotirjna (astronomer). 5. Puradhyaksa (Mayor or
Superintendent of the city), Vanadhyak^a (Superintendent of Parks and
Forests). 6. Koshavardhaga (Development of Financial resources). 7. Raja-
dayada (sharers of the royal income). 8. Krisi Karma (agriculture). 9.
Rath in (charioteer), Sadi (Horsemen or Cavalry). 10. G ajar oh a (the art of
elephant mounting, driving, etc ). 11. Yana (Land and Water conveyances).
12. Yatra (Expeditions). 13. Vigraha (warfare). 14. Chara (spy). 15.
Dutalakshaqa (Characteristics of ambassadors and spies). 16. Sandhi (Truce
and Peace). 17. Asana (Siege). 18. Dwaidha (Duplicity—a military technical
term in Siege-craft). 19. Asraya (seeking refuge or protection). 20. Dancja
(Punishment). 21. Mantra (Policy or statecraft) 22-3. Dwandwa (Rivalry
and Hostilities undertaken under two sets of circumstances, e.g. t i. Akritrima ,
#.*. conditions of natural fortifications, and ii. Kritrima % i.e, f conditions of
artificial barriers and barricades, etc.) described with quotations from Niti
Sdstra , Garga, and one Bhoja.
24. Pura-nirmdga (Building of cities). 25. Kala (the auspicious time).
26. The vasati (an arrangement of various wards or quarters) described by
quotations from Bhoja and Par&sara. 27. Dosaguna (good and ba'd effects,
according to Astrology). 28. Vastu (Houses). 29. Dingnirgaya (Directions).
30. Laksana (style or characteristics of Buildings). 31. Mana‘(Measurements).
32. Do$aguga (good and bad effects). 32. Kalanirgaya (when to begin
building new houses). 33. Vdstu praveshakbla (when to enter new houses).
34. Dwaranirgaya (laying out of doors). 35. Prachira (walls). 36-41. Vastu-
danda (various measurements of houses), Vinasa griha, ranga, and Rajagriha
(the twelve species of Buildings).
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4*. Asanas (Thrones). 43. Khatikas (bedsteads). 44. Pltha (stools
made of metals, stones or wood). 45. Chhatras (Umbrellas). 46. Dhwaja
(Flags). 47. Chftmai a. 48. Chasaka (Drinking vessels). 49. Vastra (clothes).
50. Alankdra (ornaments).
51. Diamond. 52. Padmaraga (species of Emerald). 53-4. Examination,
prices etc., of Diamonds. 55. Examination of Vidruma (corals). 56. Gomeda.
57-8. Pearls—their examination and prices. 59. Vaiduryya, Indrantla (Sapphire).
60. Chhaya (Transmitted Light). 61. Marakata (Emerald—its origin, and
good and bad effects). 62. PusparAga (Topaz). 63. Bhismamani. 64. Pulaka.
65. Sphatika (Quartz). 66. Ayask&nta. 67. Sankha (Conch).
68. Astra (Missile). 69. Khatjga (Dagger). 70. Dhanu (bow). 71. B&ija
(arrow). 72-3. Yatra (Expedition)—the proper time for it. 74. Nirajana
(ceremony with horses and elephants).
75-9. Horses—Testing, their defects, how to strike them, etc. 80. Ritu-
charyya (seasons—and seasonal treatment of horses). 81-2. Elephants. 83-5.
The Examination, Merits and Defects of Bulls. 86. Buffaloes. 87. Deer. 88.
Dogs. 89. Goats. 90-3. Carriages of various kinds.
94. Nauka Kastha (woods or timber for boats). 95. Boats of various
kinds.
(g) Hindu R&jneet in Ayeen Akbari.
The political literature of the Hindus was known to Abul Fazl, who
in the Ayeen Akbari ,* has given a short synopsis of probably some of the
NitiSdstras in his possession in the chapter on the various branches of learn¬
ing cultivated by the people of Hindusthan ruled by his master, the great
Akbar. Besides giving an elaborate description of Hindu Laws under the
heading Beyhar (Sans, Vyavahdra) and referring to “many other sensible books
upon government,*' the compiler of this Moghul Gazetteer gives the follow¬
ing summary oi Rdjneet, 11 the art of governing a kingdom.”
11 It is incumbent on a monarch to divest himself of avarice and angeF, by
following the counsels of wisdom. ** * It is his indispensable duty to fear
God * * * to pay particular respect to men of exalted rank and behave with
kindness towards his subjects of every description. * * * He should be ambi¬
tious to extend his dominions. * * * No enemy is so insignificant as to
be beneath his notice. * * * A wise prince will banish from his court all
corrupt and designing men. * * *
11 The king resembles a gardener, who plucks up the thorns and briers,
and throws them on one side, whereby he beautifies his garden, and at the
same time raises a fence which preserves his ground from the intrusion of
strangers. * * * The king detaches from the nobles their too numerous
friends and dangerous dependents. * * *
In affairs of moment it is not advisable to consult with many. * * *
Some ancient monarchs made it a rule to consult men of a contrary
1 Gladwin’s Translation, Yol. Ill (1786) pp. 104-218.
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description and to act diametrically opposite to their advice. * * * They
found it the safest way to join with the prime minister a few wise and
experienced men, and to require each to deliver his opinion in writing.
A prince moreover requires a learned astrologer and a skilful physician.
• * * If any monarch is more powerful than himself he continually
strives to sow dissension among his troops • and if he is not able to effect
this, prudently purchases his friendship. * * * The prince whose
territory adjoins to his, although he may be friendly in appearance, yet
ought not to be trusted; he should always be prepared to oppose any
sudden attack from that quarter. With him whose country lies next
beyond the one last-mentioned he should enter into alliance; but no
connexion should be formed with those who are more remote. If he finds
it necessary to attack his enemy, he should invade his country during
the time of harvest.”
Here we have from a foreign source the traditional ideas of the Hindus
regarding Constitution, International Morality, etc., as preserved in the Hindu
literature of the 16th century A. D.
Section 4.
Unity and Diversity in Indian National Life.
There are, no doubt, some floating ideas which are common to almost
all these treatises and seem to have been the stock-in-trade of every writer on
Niti. These verbatim reproductions or occasional modifications and adapta¬
tions of the same texts are not difficult to explain. The language of the learned
world was the same throughout India. Education was imparted orally, and
ideas were transmitted for generations from mouth to mouth. Besides, the
incessant political changes of the times also promoted a uniformity of culture.
Dynastic revolutions, territorial expansion and contraction, transfers of royal
seats from place to place, emergence of new areas into political importance,
constant transformations of the u old order yielding place to new ”—all these
tended to produce an elasticity and flexibility of the Indian mind ever ready
to receive new impressions by facilitating rapprochement and intercourse
among the people.
But beneath these unities and uniformities of culture are to be found
the varieties and diversities which are the characteristic products of par¬
ticular epochs and areas. A close study of the political maxims embodied
in the various branches of Hindu literature is calculated to yield not only
_a history of the development of polity and political speculation in India,
through the ages, but also a record of the varying geographical influences
bearing upon it.
This characteristic of Indian national culture in its socio-political aspects,
vis., the super-imposition, upon a fundamental bed-rock of uniformity, of a
diversity adjusted to the conditions of varying localities and relative to the
changes in the dynamic worli-forces—has been also pointed out in my papers
on a socio-religious festival called Gambhird connected with the &aiva-
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( 1« )
cum^dktaism of Bengal. 1 In fact, M the diversity that characterises the
customs and festivals, hymns and rituals of the people in different parts of India
in the self-same socio-religious institution is so great to-day that it is difficult
to perceive the unity underlying them.”
The relativity and diversity of national ideals and institutions modify¬
ing the traditional unifying agencies have been thus explained: * The
kaleidoscopic political changes which shifted the vital centres of gravity
from people to people, province to province, and district to district, neces¬
sarily converted the border-lands or buffer-states of one epoch into pro¬
minent seats of political and cultural life in the next, and occasionally
diverted the stream of paramount ideas along new and untrodden channels.
These are hardly visible to us to-day because of the paucity of historical
details bearing on them. On the other hand, the translation of higher culture
into the tongues of the people of the various parts from the common store¬
house of Sanskrit, the lingua franca of educated India, through the ages, and the
necessary modifications or adaptations, have imported a local colouring and
distinctive tone to the all-India Hindu traditions, sentiments and customs in
the several parts of the country.”
11 Social and religious life of the people of India have thus been for ages
governed not simply by the texts of the S&stras in Sanskrit (which, by the
bye, could not escape the natural adaptation to the conditions of time and
place), but also really and to a powerful extent by the vast mass of different
vernacular literatures, both secular and religious, that grew up side by side
with, and eventually replaced, to a considerable extent, the original store¬
house.”
Section 5 .
Preliminary Spade-work .
So far as the Hindu Literature on Economics, Public Finance, Constitu¬
tion, Jurisprudence, and International Law is concerned, the proper analysis of
the documents with the object of discriminating from the permanent and basic
foundations of unifying thought and tradition the layers and sediments that
point to different epochs and diverse local conditions in Indian culture-history,
has yet to be undertaken.
And the problem of assigning a particular political code to a particular
kingdom or empire cannot be solved before a vast amount of spade-work is
done. In the first place, the political history of India has to be ransacked so
as to give more or less complete pictures of the administrative machinery and
economic organisation of the various kingdoms and empires of the Hindu
world. Mr. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar has given a good survey of the whole
administrative system of the Cholas 1 (900-1300, A.D.) in his Ancient India by
utilising inscriptions and Tamil manuscripts. Mr. Akshaya Kumar Maitra has
l A Northern Form of the Saiva Cult in the Modern World (Madras) for Octo¬
ber 1018.
* See also Polity Ancient and Mediceval in Kerala -(Modern Review, December
1918) by Yenkataraya Iyer.
Digitized by L^ooQle
thrown out some suggestive hints regarding the Land Revenue Policy and agri¬
cultural tenures under the Pala Empire. The materials in the possession of the
Vdrendra Research Society are likely to yield a more satisfactory and complete
picture of the mediaeval administrative system in Eastern India.
In the second place, the whole held of Indian Literature, both
Sanskrit and Vernacular, has to be ransacked wide and deep to discover
socio-political and socio-economic treatises, and their contents minutely
analysed and elaborately indexed in the interest of comparative studies.
Mr. Narendranath Law's Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity has revealed
certain features of Maurya administration described in the Arthasdstra of
Kautilya. Mr. Kashi Prasad Jayaswal’s essay on the Introduction to Hindu
Polity published in the columns of the Modern Review , is a historical survey
of Hindu political thought. Though premature as such, it is well calculated to
suggest and open up new fields for the careful consideration of those who are
interested in the theory of political progress and development of politics and in
the history of political science as a special branch of world’s philosophical
literature.
The present work is an attempt at placing some of the data of socio¬
economic and socio-political life gleaned from a text-book of Hindu Sociology.
*
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CHAPTER II.
THE DATA OF ANCIENT INDIAN GEOGRAPHY.
Section i.
Sukrantli as a source of Geographical Information .
The work of Sukracharyya is not a historical lcdvya like the Rdf Tarangtni
or * Annals of Kashmir* in Sanskrit by the poet-historian Kalhana, which, accord¬
ing to Mr. Stein , 1 “ is not only the amplest but also the most authentic of our
sources for the geography of Kashmir,** and 1 by far the richest source of
information* for its historical geography. It is not an Itihdsa* 'which
narrates past events in and through the stories of the actions of the kings.’
The description of courts and palaces, forts and temples, or of the circums¬
tances attending the foundation of towns, villages, estates, shrines, mathas
and other religious structures by particular kings, or the narrative of
expeditions, warfares, sieges, etc., undertaken in quest of territorial expansion
are quite uncalled for in the Nittsdstra. Here the author has no opportunities
for describing the physical background of the hero’s exploits by referring
to the relief, mountains, rivers, character of soils, seasons, weather, climate
and such other natural agencies as promote or retard the activities of
man. It is not even a Purdna 8 also, which according to the orthodox
definition must contain "an account of the creation, the destruction, the
dynasties, the cycles or epochs and the incidents or events under each
dynasty.’* There is thus no scope in it for popular story-telling and
attractive descriptions likely to catch one’s imagination or for rambling from
subject to subject and charming digressions about the plants, animals, physical
features, geological facts, etc., that come in the way. Nor is Sukraniti an
ordinary kdvya 4 like, say, the Raghuvamsam of Kalidasa, which must " appeal
to the various rasas } ie. t feelings or tastes and give rise to pleasure’’
according to canons of Hindu literary art, and may be diversified in style
by images, similes, metaphors and other forms of alamkdra or figures of
speech, as well as enriched by historical narratives or matter-of-fact descrip¬
tions, fanciful pictures or details of men and things according to the
writer’s genius and sense of proportion. But Sukraniti is in verse only
because almost every bit of Sanskrit literature is so; there is here no scope
for flights of imagination or embellishments of style.
The physiography, topography, mineralogy and meteorology of a place
that are more or less expected in works like these have no natural place in a
Nitisdstra. Among the thirty-two vidyds or sciences mentioned by Sukra-
chftryya in the third section of the fourth chapter of his work, there is no
1 Stein's Rfij Tarangini, yol. 2, p. 866. ' Sokra IV. iii, 104-5.
• Snkra IV, iii, 102-8. 4 Sukra IV, iii, 110-1.
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mention of Nttisdstra. But the scope he has defined for his SAstra at the
commencement of the treatise and the manner in which he accomplishes his
task lead one to believe that Nitisdstra is either identical with, or a species of,
the more generic vidyd , the science of Arthasdslra,' which is defined to be
that “which describes the actions and administration of Kings in accordance
with the dictates of Sruti and Smriti, as well as the means of livelihood in a
proper manner,” and is thus politics and economics combined. It is what in
modern phraseology would be called a 1 normative ’ science dealing with what
* should be * as opposed to what 1 is * or ‘ has been/ since it dictates and prescribes
‘duties 1 for kings, princes and statesmen. In such a work we cannot expect
anything but the ‘generalisations/ or what appear to be generalisations,
regarding kingly functions deduced from the experience of many states in the
past and the present; and therefore references to particular or individual men
and places are few and far between, incidentally called for in the interest of
illustration.
The very scope and nature of Sukraniti , therefore, prevent it from being
a source of geographical information, and the author or authors of the work
have conscientiously done their part by avoiding all unnecessary or superfluous
details except such as are directly and indirectly relevant to the socio-econo¬
mic and socio-political topics. In studying the geographical environment of
the locality in which the work was composed or the court was situated one
has, therefore, to pursue the same method as is used in the study of Shakes¬
peare, who always hides himself and eludes the reader's grasp. It seems
almost a hopeless task to catch the personality of Shakespeare or Kalidasa,
because in them there is ‘ Nature's plenty.* It is an interesting fact about
Kalidasa that to-day he is claimed by all the four quarters of India as belong¬
ing to each. v Kashmir and Malabar, Guzarat and Bengal, the extreme north
and the extreme south, the extreme west and the extreme east—all vie with
each other in finding from the ‘internal evidences' of the works of Kalidasa that
they are the products of a man born and bred in their surroundings.
The geographical facts and phenomena in Sukraniti have to be studied,
therefore, not only to fix upon the locality in which it might have been written,
but also for the knowledge that the poets of the Sukra cycle or authors who
chose to adopt the nom-de-plume of SukrAchAryya have incidentally displayed
regarding the plants, animals, minerals, rivers, forests, soils, seasons, &c. of
India and the world outside it.
Section a.
General Geographical Facts.
(a) The Quarters and Divisions of India.
The directions of the world, as indicated by the points of the compass,
have been mentioned several times in the course of the work. In connection
with the construction of the capital city* and the royal residence or palace
* SakralV, UK, 119-20, ’ Sukra 1,425-615. ~~
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and officers’ quarters, &c„ Sukraniti is very particular about the directions,
northern or southern, eastern or western, that are to be specially set apart for
particular rooms or houses. Thus towards the east the king should have
houses for the washing and cleaning of clothes &c. The northern rooms are
set apart for chariots, arms and weapons, &c. The museum is to be situated
towards the north of the palace. And so on. Or again the northern and
southern sides are to be long, twice or thrice the eastern and western sides.
The palace is to have sides of equal length in all directions and to be high
southwards and low northwards. The rooms of the rest-houses may face the
north or east. In Vdstu-Sdsfras, or Hindu treatises on buildings, the directions
must be mentioned with particular care, because each is supposed to be presided
over by a deity, (*.£., Kuvera, or the god of fortune, is the lord of the north,
Yama or Death is the lord of the south, and so on). Hence, each direction has
a special value affixed to it over and above the ordinary secular significance
which arises from the fact that human life and comfort are affected by the sun,
the wind and other natural agencies. The subject has been elaborately treated
in that celebrated mine of information regarding things Indian, called the
Brihat Samhitd as well as the socio-economic manuscript, Yukti Kalpataru .
Besides this mention of directions which, according to Hindu tradition, is
mainly of a social and religious character, Sukraniti contains references to the
north, south, east, west and middle as points or regions which take the reader
out of the purely local surroundings of a particular spot. The geographical
horizon of the poets of the Sukra cycle can be inferred to a certain extent from
one of the functions of the Sachiva 1 or Head of the War Office, among the Ten
Prakritis or Executive Councillors of the state, which is described to be that of
studying the men who are sent eastward and westward on missions. This men¬
tion of 1 eastward and westward,’ however, does not furnish any solid ground as to
the particular regions meant, for it has been done in connexion with a general
statement. But the references to the ‘ north and west * as the land of the
Yavanas* who “ recognise authority other than that of the Vedas/’to the
‘southern* countries where Brahmanas 3 are not condemned, if they marry
maternal uncles’ daughters, to ‘ Madhyadeia,* where artisans* are beef-eaters,
and deviation from the normal customs is not regarded as a sin, and to the
‘north’* where the women are touchable when they are menstruated, are not
only the facts of pure and simple geography, but create in the minds of the
reader the shrewd suspicion that the author of these lines does not belong to
the particular regions mentioned, and that these must lie beyond the pale of
“normal” rules and regulations of social life. Infixing upon the author’s home,
therefore, one would be naturally tempted to exclude these regions from one’s
considerations.
It is difficult to make out which regions are specified in these references.
The description of India as a country of the Navakhanda * or Nine Divisions
* Sukra II, 181-190. 4 Sukra IV, v, 26-90.
* Sukra IV, iv, 74-75. ‘ Sukra IV, 5, 97.
* Sukra IV, y, 94. * Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India (1871), pp. 5-8.
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was first used by the astronomers Par&sara and Varfthamihira, and was after-
wards adopted by the authors of several of the Purdnas. •• The names of the
Nine Divisions given in the Mahdbhdrata and the Pur&nas differ entirely from
those of Varahamihira ; but they agree with those of the famous astronomer,
Bhftskaracharyya.” But “ the division of India into five great provinces would
appear to have been the most popular one during the early centuries of the
Christian era, as it was adopted by the Chinese pilgrims,and from them by all
Chinese writers. According to Vishnu Purdna the centre was occupied by the
Kurus and Panchalas; in the East was Kamarupa or Assam ; in the South were
the Pundras, Kalingas, and Magadhas; in the IVest were the Saurastras, Suras,
Abhiras, Arbudas, Karushas, Malavas, Sauviras, and Saindhavas ; and in the
North the Hunas, Salvas, Sakalas, Ramas, Ambashtas and Parasikas.” This
account of India in the Vishnu Purdna does not include what are comprised by
the modern Deccan and Southern India. But “ the same divfsion of five great
provinces was adopted by the Chinese pilgrim Houen Tsang in the seventh
century, who names them in the same manner, as north, south, east, west and
central according to their relative positions.*' The extent and area of each of
the five great provinces which according to the tourist's report contained
altogether eighty kingdoms are not the same as those in the Vishnu PurSQa ;
and Houen Tseng's India is larger than that of the Purdna. From Cunningham
we quote the following lines which give the territories included within the
five great provinces of India in the seventh century A.D.
“ I. Northern India comprised the Panjab Proper, including K&sh mir and adjoining
hill states with the whole of Eastern Afghanistan beyond the Indus, and the present cis-
gntlej states to the west of the Saraswati river.
II. Western India comprised Sindh and Western Hajputana with Kutch and Gujarat,
and a portion of the adjoining coast on the lower course of the Narbada river. *
HI. Central India comprised the whole of the Gangetio Provinces from Thanes war
to the head of the Delta and from the Himalaya mountains to the banks of the Narbada.
IY. Eastern India comprised Assam and Bengal Proper including the whole of the
Delta of the Ganges together with Sambalpur, Orissa and Ganjam.
Y. Southern India comprised the whole of the Penin^pla from Nasika on the west
and Ganjam on the east, to cape Kumari (Comorin) on the south, including the Modern
Districts of Berar .and Telingana, Mahftr&shtra and the Konkan, with the separate
states of Haidarabad, Mysore and Travancore or very nearly the whole of the Peninsula
to the south of the Narbada and Mah&nadi rivers."
Mr. Cunningham believes that the tradition of the five Great Provinces
was very popular in ancient India, at any rate among the educated classes.
And if the authors of the Sukra cycle followed that tradition in referring to
the land of Yavanas and the other regions of customs that would be regarded
as immoral and heinous according to the normal standard of life and manners
obtaining in the country for which their work was being written, the treatise
excludes practically the whole of India from its purview and would have to be
referred to some spot in Eastern India . But is it probable that the authors
have used the pratyaguttara , (north atid west or north-west ?), the madhya -
deia, the ddksindtya and the uttara in the technical sense of the terms as
given in either Vishnu Purina or the Chinese pilgrim’s accounts ? The
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question involves larger issues and cannot be decided before the following
problems are solved
(1) The Ethnology of the Yavanas and their Philosophy.
(2) The regions and races which allowed beef-eating to artisans and
artists and fish-eating to men,
(3) The regions and races which allowed the marriage of maternal
uncles’daughters by Brahmanas.
(4) The regions and races which did not consider female menstruation
as a pollution.
(5) The regions and races which did not object to the drinking of wines
by women.
(6) The regions and races in which unchastity was not regarded as a sin.
Yavanas.
If we are to determine the geography of the Yavanas after solving
the guestion of their race and religion, the problem will not be solved at
all. The Yavanamata 1 or the philosophy of the Yavanas has been described
in Sukraniti as the thirty-first Vidyd “ which recognises God as the invisible
creator of this Universe and recognises virtues and vices without reference
to Sruti and Smriti ’ and which believes that Sruti contains a separate
religious system.” This description of Yavanism as a non-vedic, monotheistic
religion is ‘too wide*, and as Mr. Oppert discusses in his short Preface
to the Text of Sukraniti Sdra , published by the Madras Government in
1882, may be made to apply (1) to the Mosaic religion, (?) to Mahometanism,
(3) to Christianity, (4) to the religion of the ancient Persians ; and even
(5) to the religion of the Hindus “ who contend that they only revere the
god-head in one particular manifestation, but that they do not admit of
a plurality of gods.’* But Mr. Oppert’s contention that Yavanamata may
refer even to Hinduism is certainly erroneous, since no form of Hinduism
ignores Sruti and S/»r/ 7 i*and believes that Sruti contains a separate religious
system—conditions essential to Yavana philosophy. In any case, to argue
definitely from the tenets and doctrines of this creed as to the race and
nationality of the people professing it is impossible.
As for the abode or habitat of this race it is mentioned that the people are
* pratyaguttaravasinah.’* This word may be interpreted in two ways according
as the compound is taken to be of the Karmadhdraya type or of the Dwandwa
type. In the first case, the Yavanas are a people who live in the north-west.
In the second case, they live both in the north and in the west ( pratyak ). Mr.
Oppert takes it in the first sense. I take it in the second. But either way we
are not left any the wiser regarding the religion or the people indicated by the
term. For in different ages different peoples professing different faiths, Jewish,
Hellenic, Christian, and Mahometan, have been Inhabitants of the regions
~~ > Sukra IV, ii, 124-128, * Sujtra iv, Vf 74-75,
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implied by the north, west, and north-west. The pre-condition for fixing the
precise ethnology of Yavanas, therefore, is the exact date of Sukraniti , which
for a long time yet, is sure to be 1 begging the question/
Dr. Rdjendralfll Mitra, in his second volume of Indo-Aryans after a pro¬
tracted disquisition, arrives at the following conclusions regarding the Yavanas:
44 That originally the term Yavana was the name of a country and of its people to
the west of Kandahar,—which may have been Arabia, or Persia or Medea, or Assyria—
probably the last.
(2) That subsequently it became the name of all those places.
(8) That at a later date it indicated all the casteless races to the west of the Indus
including the Arabs and the Asiatic Greeks and the Egyptians.
(4) That the Indo-Greek Kings of Afghanistan were also probably indicated by the
same name.
( 5 ) That there is not a tittle of evidence to show that it was at any one time the
exclusive name of the Greeks.
(8) That it is impossible now to infer from the use of the term Yavana the exact
nationality indicated in Sanskrit works."
Beef and Fish.
If the above discussion does not leave us on any solid ground as to the
geographical facts and phenomena of India, the precise delimitation of areas
within which certain abnormal social and religious customs are allowed is none
the more easy. Take, for instance, beef-eating, which has been described as the
peculiar custom of the artists and artisans of the madhyadt&a , or fish-eating, which
is described as the special characteristic of the people generally of the same
tract. Both in Vedic and subsequent Indian literature the slaughter of animals
for food has been repeatedly mentioned. Principal P. T. Srinivas Iyengar
writes in his Life in Ancient India in the Age of the Mantras :
“ Howes (A.Y.vi. 71.1), bulls (R.V. i. 184. 48), buffaloes (R.V. 29. 7), rams (R.V. X.27.17)
and goats (R.V. i. 182. 8) were killed on slaughter-benches (R.V.x.88.18), cooked in caldrons
(R.Yoii. 53.22) and eaten. The eating of fishes and birds must have also prevailed."
Dr. R. Mitra also is strongly of opinion that beef-eating was universally
allowed in ancient India and proves it by referring to Uttardma-charita ,
Smritis , Manusamhild t Asoka's edicts, Mahdbhdrata , Rdmdyana, Char aka ,
Su&ruta , Kalpa and Grihya Sutras.
44 Aswal&yana emphatically ordains that no madhuparka should be celebrated without
flesh (?).” The author of the Naraeiuhiya Prayoga-pdrijdta has copied verbatim
Aswalfiyana’s rule about the necessity of eating beef at the Madhuparka ceremony, but
qualified it by a quotation from Adityapurdna which says that in the present kali age the
madhuparka should be celebrated without slaughtering a cow. The quotation has been
given at length by Parfisara, Hem&dri and other compilers." “ The Brihannaradiya
Pur&na follows the above very closely."
Both the Upa-purdnas are, according to Dr. Mitra, not above eleven or
twelve hundred years old. Th|e author of the Nirnayasindhu argues :
44 The slaughter of large bulls and large sheep for Brahmans versed in the \ Vedas,
though duly ordained, should not be done, being detested by the public."
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Dr. Mitra’s explanation 1 of the*prohibition of beef-eating lies in the fact
u that when the Brahmans had to contend against Buddhism, which emphatically
and so successfully denounced all sacrifices, they found the doctrine of respect
for animal life too strong and popular to be overcome, and therefore gradually
and imperceptibly adopted it in such a manner as to make it appear a part
of theirSds/ra.”
The lines in Sukranlti, therefore, referring to the custom of beef-eating as
confined within a certain class of people in certain tracts of India called madhya -
deba must have been written by a person, if Dr. Mitra’s theory is to be accepted,
who lived in an environment that had long been disciplined in the sentiments and
traditions brought on by the ascendancy of Buddhism. Madhyaderfa, therefore',
should mean the land that forsook these humanitarian ideals long before other
parts had become callous to them. Eastern India 9 as described in connexion
with Hiouen Tsang’s travels was the land that received Buddhistic influence
earlier and more powerfully than other parts of India, and it may be surmised
that the author of the lines referred to was writing from his home in Eastern
India about the Central India as described in the Chinese itinerary, when he
was thinking of beef and fish as food.
Mahdmahopadhyftya Harapras&d Sastri, in his Introduction to Mr. Nagendra
Nath Vasu’s Modem Buddhism^ thus bears testimony to the strength of
Buddhism in Eastern India :
“ Yuan Ghuang tells as that there were ten thousand Sangh&rftmas with a hundred
thousand Bhikshus in Bengal. To support this vast mendicant population at least ten
millions of lay families were required, and they would be all Buddhists. * * More than
three-fourths of the population of Bengal were Buddhists. Full one hundred years after
Yuan Chuang, the original five progenitors of the present K&dhiya and Vftrendra Br&hmaos
in Bengal came from Kanoj. Their religion was not a proselytising one. In the middle
of the twelfth century Ballftla Sen took a census of the descendants of these live Brahmins
and he found only eight hundred families in all. They lived mostly on grants of land
made to them by the R&j&s. * * * But they rarely interfered with other people's religion.
* * * The masses were almost entirely left in the hands of the Buddhists, both married and
unmarried. * * * The monasteries of N&landa, Vikramasilft, Jagaddala and other places were
the best seminaries for the diffusion of Buddhistic learning and Buddhistic religion. It
was from these monasteries that Tibet, Burma, Ceylon and Mongolia received their
Buddhist preachers and Buddhist authors and translators. * * * In the twelfth century
there were the following forms of religion in Bengal and in Bastern India
1. Brahminism. It was followed by 800 families of Rftdhiya and Vftrendra Brahmins
and about a hundred families of other Brahmins, the descendants of many Kftyasthas who
came from the west and those of lower classes who served the families.
1 Indo-Aryans, Vol.II, pp. 854-88.
* See the contributions of Mahftmahopftdhyftya Haraprasftd Sftstri to the Journal of
the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No 1.1895, and Proceedings of the Society for December,
1898. Pandit Sastri has explained " how the religion which existed in Bastern India in
such splendour from 600 B. 0. to 1200 A . D.” has under the influence of new conditions
continued to exist there in new names under various gqfces eyen to the present day. This
latter aspect of the question has been discussed by Mr. Nagendranath Vnsu also ia
his Modem Buddhism .
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2. Hi nay An a. This wss followed on (he West of the Ganges and especially in
Tamlnk.
8. Mahlyina. It was a religion of the higher elass Buddhist monks and higher class
Boddhist laity.
4. Vajriyana. This was the religion of the middle class man and the married
Buddhist clergy.
5. NAthism, which kras professed by the Yogis who had numerous followers amongst
the Buddhists and a few among the Brahminists.
8. The 8ahajiyA colt It had numerous followers below the middle-class Buddhists
and some among the lower class Brahminists.
7. Tlntrism. It had its followers among all classes, but among the higher classes
it was a subsidiary form of worship, among the lower it was the chief form.
8. The KilachakrAyana. It was purely Buddhist and more a religion of fear than of
love and was followed by the lowest classes.**
Mr. Dineschandra Sen, also, in his celebrated History of Bengali Liter¬
ature (both in Bengali and English) has adduced fresh facts in support of the
Sdstri’s theory about the survival of Buddhism among the lower orders in
Eastern India. He has referred to Bengali works of the period from 13th
century, the age of the so-called annihilation of Buddhists by the Musalmans,
to the 17th century. Nagendranath Vasu’s Modem Buddhism is an account of
still extant forms of that cult in the hill-tracts of Orissa. In Mr. Sen's monu¬
mental work we have been supplied with some of the more important features
of Buddhistic faith that may be detected from an analysis of (1) the Sunyapurdya
of RamAi Pandit published by the Bangiya S&hitya Parishat of Calcutta, (a) the
Bengali passages occurring in the Sanskrit works of loth-nth cent., (3) the
Charyd charyavinischaya of K&nu Bhatta, discovered by the Sastri in Nepal, (4)
the Lay of MAnikcbAnd published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
(belonging according to Grierson, to the 14th, but according to Sen, to nth-iath
cent.), (5) the folk-songs about Govinda Chandra compiled by a rustic poet,
(6) the agricultural maxims of KhanA, and (7) astrological lore of DAka, both of
which must be considerably anterior to MAnikchAnd.
Another scholarly and highly original Bengali publication of recent times
which throws a flood of light on Mediaeval Buddhism and the processes of trans-
tormation by which it merged into, and was replaced or considerably eclipsed
by,♦Hinduism is the history of Gambhird ,* a Saiva festival of the people in North
Bengal, by Mr. HaridAsa P&lit of the District Council of National Education,
Malda. This work may be looked dpon more or less as a connected history of
socio-religious life of Eastern India. The researches embodied in it go further
than supplying new data corroborating the hypothesis of the Sastri; for it proves
1 The materials supplied by Mr. FAlit in this learned work from a first-hand study
of innumerable Bengali and Sanskrit Mss., traditions and folksongs as prevailing in North
and West Bengal (called Varetidra and R&dha ) as well as Orissa have been utilised by the
present author for his forthcoming work, “ Studies in Hindu Literature—Literary and
Sociological.” A few chapters from this have been published in The Vedic Mugaeine
(Hardwar), The Modern World (Madras), and The Collegian (Calcutta).
4
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that the worship of Siva by the orthodox Hindus of to-day with such peculiar
constitutional, doctrinal and devotional features as are associated with the
Gambhird , Gdjatta and other ceremonies, is nothing different from, but really a
descendant or another form of, the worship of Dharma, the mediseval Buddha,
popularised by Ramai Pandit, and that the whole laboratory of Buddhalogy
and paraphernalia of Buddhistic ceremonialism have been utilised by and
transformed into the modern socio-religious institutions of the Hindus. Modern
Saiva-cum-Saktaism is thus traced by the author through the Yoga-Tantric
phase of Mahayana-cum-Brahmanism back to the Vedic period of the simple
worship of Rudra, Rudra-agnis, &c.
That Buddhism was decaying in Central and Southern India, while it
flourished vigorously in Bihar and Bengal, would be evident from the following
extracts from Mr. Vincent Smith’s Early History of India :
“ The Brahmanical reaction against Buddhism had begun at a time considerably
earlier than that of F&hien’s 1 travels (405—11 A. D.); and Indian Buddhism was already
upon the downward path.”
“ Buddhism was visibly waning in the days of Harsha and Houen Tsang. * * * It had
certainly lost its dominant position in the Gangetic plain which it had once held. * * *
The sacrificial form of the Hindu religion received special attention. * * * Buddhism as
a popular religion in Bihar, its last abode in Upper India, south of the Himalayas, was
destroyed once and for all by the sword of a single Mussalman adventurer (1193 A. D.).”
According to Dr. Mitra, therefore, the prohibition of beef and meat as food
and the consideration of people taking to them as following an abnormal practice
must be ascribed to the influence of Buddhistic environment in Eastern India as
I have suggested above.
Maternal Uncle’s Daughter.
The marriage and other social customs mentioned above do not raise many
difficulties. Among Marathas and Madrasis, even to-day, Brahmans may marry
maternal uncle’s daughters—an abnormal custom according to Sukra. The
tradition is preserved in a familiar Sanskrit sloka * daksine matuli-kanya, uttare
mansabhojanam,’ which describes the southern custom regarding marriage
together with the northern regarding meat as food. The term Daksinatya,
therefore, used in the Sukraniti ’, for the abode of such Brahmans as follow this
abnormal custom, refers both to what is now called the Deccan plateau as well
as Southern India, as it did according to the division of India into five great
provinces in Houen Tsang’s time. There is no doubt that by this term the
Northerner (or East Indian ?) Sukra refers to the Deccani (Chalukya, Ras-
trakuta), Andhra (Telugu) and Chola (Tamil) Brahmans of his age.
Wines.
As for what Sukracharyya considers to be the abnormal practice of the
drinking of wines by females, definite information on the point is not easily
available. Dr. Mitra has proved the practice to be universal by references to
the Ramayaga, Mahabharata, Buddhist works, the works of Kalidasa and Magha,
1 Second Edition, pp. 283, 287, 818, 870. See also Aiyangar’s Ancient India , p. 382.
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Purftnas and Tantras. But the fact that it should fce regarded as exclusively
the practice of the female sex of a particular country cannot be satisfactorily
explained in the present state of our knowledge regarding the social life of
ancient and mediaeval India. Sukra may, therefore, be taken at his word when
he mentions the north as the locality of the custom. And there is no
objection to referring this north to the northern division of Hiouen Tsang.
The same arguments apply to the non-observance of menstruation as
ceremonially unclean, and yield the same conclusions about its locality.
Unchastity.
The unchastity of women 1 has been referred to several times in Vedicand
other Hindu literature. But it is not easy to locate it somewhere as the area
in which it is particularly connived at. Sukra’s statement that it is the
characteristic of the women of Madhyade&a may, therefore, be taken for what
it is worth. And in the absence of positive evidences for or against, this
madhyadeSa may be taken to be the Central India of the Chinese pilgrim.
East Indian locale of Sukraniti.
The study of the directions and divisions] of India mentioned in the
Sukraniti leads to a tentative hypothesis as to the home of the authors of the
Sukra cycle. We have to fix upon a region, with reference to which the writer
may simultaneously mention the north, west, central and south, as the quarters
or divisions where certain customs and practices obtain which “deserve penance*
and punishment” in the normal region that sets the standard.
No Southerner would regard a southern practice as out of the way and be¬
yond the 1 norm.’ The same consideration applies to the westerner, northerner,
&c. The only region or quarter that has not been mentioned must therefore
be the land of Sukra’s 4 normal ’ social life, and this is the Eastern.
The argument from the ‘ abnormal ’ practices leaves no doubt as to the
normal region in which the treatise was composed. As to the spot also with
reference to which the quarters of India and the positions of the regions are
mentioned, there can be no difficulty. We may place it in Eastern India, if
we suppose that north, west, centre and south were being mentioned in the
technical sense of the terms as used by Hiouen Tsang. The Easterner versed
in technical terminology would mean by north not the Tibetan Himalayas,
but the Punjab and Kashmir, Himalayas, &c., by the west not the modern
U. P. but Sindh, Rajputana, &c., by the central the regions marked out by
Hiouen Tsang comprising U. P., Behar, C. P. of modern times, and by the south
the whole of South India beyond the Narbada. The Madhya (centre) would
thus always be the centre of India, the North always the North of India, the
Ddksindtya or South the whole of Southern India.
But one might argue that, if the technical meaning of the terms be taken,
there can be no objection to the author of the lines referred to being a southern¬
er also, say a Chola or an Andhra, belonging to any part of India, for he is
1 Iyengar's Life in Ancient India, pp. 67-68. * Sukra IV, y, 90,
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at liberty to use the terms in the same sense from all places. The objection
is refuted by the other consideration about the normal and abnormal customs
just discussed. Thus though the Southerner may call the man of the Punjab
and Kashmir, &c., northerners in the special sense, and the other parts of India
excluding Rajputhna, &c. on the west and Bengal, &c, on the east by the special
name of Central India, and describe himself as a southerner in the technical
sense given with reference to the whole of India (which is not likely), it is not
at all probable that he would look upon the southerners, or his own countrymen
as illustrating a social practice that is beyond the ‘norm.* The same considera¬
tion goes against the author being a ‘north ‘-man or a 4 Madhyade^a -man.
This process of reasoning is adopted by George Buhler 1 to prove that
Apastamba is a southerner. Thus, “Apastamba says (Dli. II, 7, 17, 17) that the
custom of pouring water in the hands of Brahmanas invited to a Sr&ddha
prevails among the northerners, and he indicates thereby that he himself does
not belong to the north of India. If this statement is taken together with
the above stated facts which tend to show that the Apastambiyas were and
are restricted to the south of India, the most probable interpretation which
should be put on it is that Apastamba declares himself to be a southerner.”
(b) Other Lands.
Whatever be the value of the hypothesis as to the author of Sukranlti
being an Easterner, as understood by the Chinese pilgrims, and also by the
Indians of the early Christian era, one thing is clear. The geographical know¬
ledge displayed by Sukr&ch&ryya is not confined to a particular area. The
poets of the Sukra cycle are not home-bred men, their intellectual horizon covers
the whole of India. They can think at once of the four quarters of the mother¬
land, even though conventionally. This has been apparent from the discussion
in the preceding sub-section.
That they were cognisant of ‘ new men, strange faces, other minds * and
did not think exclusively of the local area that was the scene of their activities
would be indicated by several passages in the Sukraniti, which mention,
though indefinitely, regions, religions and languages other than their own.
Thus among the qualifications of the clerk or scribe* is mentioned that of
“knowing of the differences in countries aud languages.” The statement
that the system of measurements* varies with countries points to the same
experience of the writer beyond his own ‘ country.* The practice of undertak¬
ing distant tours is suggested by the advice that ‘‘in foreign lands the follow¬
ing six are useful to men—wife without child, good conveyance, the bearer,
the guard or guide, the knowledge that can be of use in relieving others*
miseries, and an active servant.” 4 This practice of travel and life abroad
is also indicated by the idea that “ the man 1 who is not in a strange
1 Pp. xxviii-iv. Introduction to Apattamba and Qautama in the Sacred Books of the
East Series.
9 Sukra II, 847-848 ; IV, 81-82. 4 Sukra III, 695-B97.
• Sukra II, 777-778. * Sukra III, 847.
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land enjoys happiness.'* The prohibition of foreign travel 1 to Sudra females,
except in the company of the husband, similarly points to this. The comfort
of living in the home and the discomfort of life and work abroad have been
mentioned as factors which influence the soldiery also. Thus alienation of
soldiers* is brought about by constant life and work in foreign lands." The
rule about * travelling allowances ’ is another proof of experiences beyond the
little ‘platoon.*
These references, however, do not furnish any geographical information
worthy of note. Nor do they point to anything like an all-India sentiment
or knowledge or any extra-Indian experience. These are but vague and
indefinite hints about things that are not purely local.
(r) Definite Names .
It has been mentioned above that as sources of positive geographical
information, NitisAstras are not very valuable. This is sufficiently borne out
by the fact that only the following five names occur in Sukraniti , a work of
4966 lines: (1) Simhalaor Ceylon, (2) Gandaka, (3) Daksinatya, (4) Madhya-
deda, (5) Khada.
i. Simhala
Ceylon 9 has been mentioned as an island, and its people are described as
expert in making artificial pearls which should be carefully examined by
customers before purchase. The connexion of Ceylon with general Indian
history is immense and has been commercial, political, as well as cultural.
Prof. Rddhd Kumud Mookerji* has, on the authority of Buddhist texts belong¬
ing to a period of a thousand years from 600 B. C , given evidences u which
point to a complete navigation of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean and
the flow of a steady and ceaseless traffic between Bengal and Ceylon, Madras
and Burma." Mr. 15 . Krishnaswami Aiyangar of the Mysore Education Service
in his Ancient India , a scholarly work on the early history of South India,
has used old Tamil literature to prove the connexion of the Ceylonese with
the Cholas, Cheras and Pdndyas in particular, and Indian culture in general.
Mr. Cunningham's account of Ceylon in the Ancient Geography of India also
throws fresh light on the subject:
“ The- famous island of Ceylon is not reckoned amongst the kingdoms of India, and
it was not visited by the pilgrim (Houen Tsang) on acoonnt of political disturbances.
* * * In the seventh contnry of our era Ceylon was inown by the name of $eng-kia-lo t
or 8ihhala , which was said to be iderived from the lion-descended Sinhalx, whose son
Vijaya is fabled to have conquered the island om the vory day of Buddha’s death in B. C.
548. Its original name was Paochu , or 44 Isle of Gems,” in Sanskrit Ratnadwlpa ."
ii. Gandaka.
The Gandaka* has been mentioned as a source of gems which may be
regarded as natural images. The neighbourh>od of the Gandaka is famous in
1 Sukra IV, 910 • Sukra I¥, vii, 888487. • Sukra IV, ii, 124.
4 A History of Indian Shipping and Maritime Activity of the Indians (Longmans, 1911),
pp. 29, 80, 84, 42, 44, 87, 70, 108, 118,138, 140, 142, Ac.
* Sukra, IV, iv, 507-808.
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Buddhist history as it contains the environs of Kusinagara, the scene of Buddha's
death. At the time of Houen Tsang’s visit the walls of Kusinagara were in
ruins. According to Cunningham the spot where Buddha obtained Nirvdna
" lies to the north-west of Anrudhwa, and to the west of the old channel of the
Chota Gandaka’ or Hiranyavaii (golden) river and “ the spot where his body
was burned ” lies to the north-east of Anrudhwa and to the east of the old
channel of the Hirana or Chota Gandaka.” We must look for Vaisdli to the
East of the Gandaka." The position of the Gandaka may be inferred from the
following description : a “ The utmost limit that can be assigned to the
joint districts (Vaisali) is not’ more than 750 or 800 miles in circuit from
the foot of the mountains to the Ganges on the south, and from the
Gandaka on the west to the Mahanadi* on the east." “According to
Houen Tsang the country of the Vrijis was long from east to west and
narrow from north to south. This description corresponds exactly with the
tract of the country lying between the Gandaka and Mahanadi rivers, which
is 300 miles in length and 100 miles in breadth."
It is possible to trace the tradition of gems being found in the bed of the
Gandaka to literary 4 sources. Perhaps the name of the river as Hiran and
Hiranyavati , which means golden, may have something to do with it. Small
pieces of stone which are worshipped as Visi?u are still found in the bed of
the Gandaka, and they are highly appreciated.
The following is taken from the note on page 3 of Ethnographic Notes
in Southern India by Edgar Thurston, Superintendent, Madras Government
Museum : “The Salagr&ma stone is a fossil ammonite, found in certain rivers,
e.g. t Gandaka, Son, &c., which is worshipped by Brahmans. The SaiagrAma
is often adopted as the representative of some god, and the worship of any
god* may be performed before it."
The following is taken from Mr. Nandalal Dey’s Geographical Dictionary
of Ancient and Mediaeval India ;® “ The Gandak rises in the Sapta Gandaki
or Dhawalagiri range of the Himalaya which is the southern boundary of
Central Tibet, and enters the plains at a spot called Tribeni Ghat. The
source of the river is not fai from Salagr&ma, which was the hermitage of
Bharata and Pulaha. The temple of Muktinatha (an image of N&r&yana) is on
the south of Salagrama. Hence the river is called also Salagrami arid N&ra-
yani ( Brahmavaivartta Purdne
1 Ancient Geography of India '1871), p. 482. Kushinagara has been recently discovered
by Pandit Hirananda of the LucknoM Museum at the village called Cassia in Che district of
Gorakhpur, U. P.
» Cunningham’s Ancient Qeograjhy , pp. 444, 448.
3 The Mahfinadi is the modern Mah&nanda flowing through the district oi Malda
which contains the sites of ancient Gauda and Pandua, and not the Mah&nadi of
Orissa.
4 Devi Bh&gavata IX. 17,30-36, IX, 19, 87-91, IX, 23, 28-38, IX. 24, 56-58.
‘See the names and forms of tie deities on pp. 348-349 of Oppert's Original
Inhabitants,
• pp f 19-20. (Newman & Co„ Calcutta, 1899),
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In The Original Inhabitants of India 1 by Mr. Gustav Oppert we have a
long dissertation on the Sdlagr&ma and the Gandaka—with all the literary and
religious traditions associated with them. In the Vardha Purdna Gandaki
expresses a wish to become the mother of Visgu, and the same desire is
mentionedin the Lakshmi Ndrdyana Santvdda . The Padma Purdna contains a
story according to which Indra sent the nymph Manjuv&c to disturb the penance
of the sage Vedasiras, who cursed her that she might become a river, but kindly
altered his decision in so far that she would become the holy river Gandaki
in which Vispu would be re-bo'rn as the SalagrAma stone.
iii. Ddkjindtya.
Ddkgindtya • has been mentioned in Sukran\ti as the land where Brah¬
mans marry maternal uncles’ daughters. This lias been discussed previously
in connexion with the directions and divisions of India. It may be mentioned
here that the term does not describe any one portion of India south of the
Vindhyas, eg., the Bombay Deccan and the Madras Deccan, but the whole
peninsula, and comprises all the nine separate kingdoms, exclusive of Ceylon,
included jn Houen Tsang’s Southern India, #>., “the whole of the peninsula to
the south of the Tapti and Mah&nadi rivers, from N&sik on the west, to Ganjam
on the east.’’ What is now known as the Deccan plateau or at any rate, the
Bombay section of the Deccan, had in Houen Tsang’s* time, the special
name of Mahdrd$tta and could not be described by the term Ddkgindtya.
Maharastra 5 was only one of the kingdoms of the Ddkgindtya or Southern
India as described by Houen Tsang, and lay to the south-west of Har$a-
vardhana’s empire, as Ganjam to the south-east.
The following lines from the third section of the Early History of the
Deccan by Sir Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar prove the antiquity of the
word Mahdrdgtra as a separate name for a particular region of peninsular
India
“ Whether the name Maharattha or Maharashtra had come into use in the time
of Asoka does not appear clear from this, bat that it was used in the early centuries
of the Christian era admits of little doubt. In some inscriptions in the cave-temples
at Bh&jft, Bedsfe and Kftrli which are to be referred to the second century, the male
donors are called Mabarathi and the female Maharathini.Of the old Pr&krits the
principal one was called Maharashtri because we are told it was the language of Mahft-
r&shtra. Varahftmihira^also, who lived in the beginning of the sixth century, speaks
of Mahftrftshtra as a southern country."
In explaining the etymology of the word “ Dekkan ” and its denotation,
the same authority says :
44 The word Dekkhan represents the vernacular pronunciation of the Sanskrit word
Dakshina meaning 4 Southern ’ used to designate, the portion of the Indian peninsula
lying to the south of the NarmadA. The name more usually met with in Sanskrit works
and elsewhere is Dakshin&patha or (< the southern region.” That this name was in
1 Pp. 887-59 (Archibald Constable and Co., London, 1893).
* Sukra IV, v, 94.
* Cunningham’s Ancient Geography, p. 14.
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ordinary use in anoient times is shown by the faet that the author of the Periplua calls
that portion of the country Dakshinabades. • * * Dahshinapatha or Dakshina was the
name of the whole peninsula south of the Narmada. Among the countries enumerated
in the M&rkandeya, V6yu, and Matsya Purfinas as comprised in Dakshin&patha are those
of the Cholas, Pftndyas and Keralas, which were situated in the extreme south of the
peninsula and correspond to the modern provinces of Tanjor, Madura and Malabar/’
Dfiksigfitya is therefore not identical with Mahfirfistra, as the popular
notion seems to be, in which sense Sir Bhandarkar has taken it for his celebrat¬
ed Early History. A historical account of peninsular India or the D&ksigfitya
has been written from original.sources by Mr. Aiyangar in Ancient India , 1 from
which the following is quoted :
u When Yuwan Chwang (Hiuen Tsang) travelled through the country in A.D. 640
we find India marked out into three clearly defined political divisions. Harsbav&r-
dhana.ruling over Hind us than to the frontiers of Assam; Pulikesin 11 of the Mahd-
rdahtra at Badami with his younger brother at Rajamahendri ; and Narasimhavarman
Pallava at Kanchi.” “ These two dynasties (Ch&lukya and Pallava) with their capitals
respectively at Ranchi and Badami (near Bijapur) continued the struggle for empire
and were seen fighting constantly on the Tungabhadra-Krishna frontier."
iv. Madhyadeia.
The probable site of Madhyadeka also has been discussed in connection
with the directions and divisions of India. I have taken it in the technical
sense of the term as understood in Houen Tsang’s time. 11 It extended from
the Sutlej to the head of the Gangetic Delta and from the Himalaya mountains
to the Narbada and Mahfinadi rivers. It comprised all the richest and most
populous districts of India with the single exception of the Gangetic Delta or
Bengal proper. Of the seventy* separate states of India that existed in the
seventh century, no less than thirty-seven, or more than one-half, belonged
to central India.” Manu Samhitfi, however, defines Madhyadesa to be the land
between the Saraswati (that loses itself in the sands) on the west and Allaha¬
bad on the east, and between the Himalayas on the north and the Vindhyas
on the south. The tract is thus smaller in extent than Houen Tsang’s area.
But, as previously explained, it is difficult at present to specify the region
meant by the authors of the Sukra cycle. It is clear, at any rate, that it cannot
denote the land of aboriginal hill-tribes in the Central India of modern times,
simply because beef-eating, fish-eating and unchastity have been mentioned
as some of the characteristics of its people.
v. Khada .
Khaia denotes both country and race in the Sukranlti. Kharfa' has been
mentioned as the country of an abnormal social custom where 11 people marry
the widows of their brothers.” Kha&i is an old term in Hindu literature
_•_
i P. 224, 48.
* Cunningham’s Ancient Geography, p. 828. The text has “ seventy ” ; but the
number actually described is eighty-two, from which, deducting Persia and Ceylon, the
ti%e number of kingdoms is eighty.
• Sukra IV, v, 98.
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mentioned in Visnu Purina, Manu SamhitA, Ac. The following extract from
Stein's Rdj Tarangini throws considerable light on this people: M in the South
and West (of Kashmir) the adjacent hill-regions were occupied by Khavas.
Their settlements extended as shown by numerous passages in the Chronicle
in a wide semicircle from Kastvar in the south-east to the Vitasta valley in
the west. The hill states of Rajapuri and Lohara were held by Khasa 1 fami¬
lies ; the dynasty of the latter territory succeeded to the rule of Kashmir in
the eleventh century. 1 have shown elsewhere that the Khavas are identical
with the Khakha tribe, to which most of the petty chiefs in the Vitasta valley
below Kashmir and in the neighbouring hills belong. We have already seen
that the Khakhas have until very recent times worthily maintained the repu¬
tation which their forefathers enjoyed as marauders and turbulent hill-men.”
“Owing to its position on the most direct route to the Punjab, Rajapuri was
necessarily often brought into political relations with Kashmir. When Houen
Tsang passed through it, the kingdom of Rajapuri was subject to Kashmir.
From the tenth century onwards we find the chiefs of Rajapuri as practically
independent rulers.” Houen Tsang does not give any account of the hill-
tribes he passed through.
It is, however, not possible to make out the antiquity of the word Kharfa.
It may be mentioned in passing that the word occurs in the copper-plate of
NAr Ay an a- Pal A* discovered at Bhagalpur recording a gift for the "dispensation
of medicines to the sick, and food and shelter to the indigent.”
Section 3 .
General Aspect oj the Country.
The physical features or relief of the country described in SukranUi can
be understood but vaguely from the incidental references to hills and rivers,
seas and islands.
(a) Hills .
That hills and mountains were some of the familiar sights to the poets of
the Sukra cycle would be evident from the simile which compares the stature
of an elephant with the peak of a mountain 1 as well as the mention of the
fact that when people became miserable through abject poverty they used to
leave this world out of despair and have resort to hills. 4
The strategic importance of hills and mountains was also understood.
Thus the site of the capital city is to be not very far from the hills. 5 These are
perhaps to be regarded as the store-house of mineral and other resources in
normal times, as well as strong defences against foreign aggression in times
of danger. That the hills should be made to serve the purpose of ramparts
for the capital situated in the plains is clear from the following suggestion of
1 Stein's Rdj Tarangini, Vol. II, pp. 480, 488.
* Mitra’s Indo-Aryuns, Vol. II, pp. 267—74. Also Manu 10.44. The Khasas have
been mentioned by Var&hamihira in Brlhat Samhitd ( 6 th Cent. A.D.)
» Sukra 1, 205-6. 4 Sukra III, 872-74. 5 Sukra I, 425-28
5
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Sukrichdryya"The wall (of the Capital city) should have many strong
shrubs and have a system of well-built windows, and if a hill is not hard by t v
should have a pratiprdkdra or a second wall but less than itself in height."
Among the various fortresses mentioned in Section vi of Chapter IV there
are giridurgas • or hill-forts which are described as being on high level and well-
supplied with water. These forts* are known to be the best of all in point of
military efficiency as presenting the greatest amount of difficulties to enemies.
Thus " the fort that is protected by ditches only is the lowest of all, and the
hill-fort is the best.”
It is not probable that the regions for which this NUisdstra is intended
are mountainous or rocky in any special degree. The hills do not seem to have
been the characteristic features of the lands, though they have been mentioned
as some of the objects with which people become familiar through travel.
" Through travel the numerous religious customs, materials, animals, races of
men, hills , 4 etc. come within the cognisance of man."
(b) Rivers.
The country of the poets of the Sukra cycle is not only a land of hills but
it is also a land of rivers. The suggestion that the capital should be built at a
place that is bestirred by the movements of boats* indicates the importance
given to rivers by Sukra in his description of an ideal economico-political
organisation. That the authors were very familiar with rivers would be
evident from the political application that naturally suggested itself to them
in the matter of diplomatic relations. Thus in advising rulers to bow down to
powerful enemies Sukrdchdryya illustrates his point by the mention of the fact that
the ‘cloud never moves against the current of the wind’ and that 'the rivers 8
never leave the downward course.’ A common natural phenomenon has been
here pressed into service to explain what in terms of modern statesmanship
would be called ' moving along the line of least resistance.’ So also in advising
the king to restrain passions and try cases or administer Vyavahdras according
to Dharma , the author mentions that the subjects follow the king who does
this, "as the rivers the ocean.*’* The fact that Sukrdchdryya has to lay down
the humane rule that if a “ bound-down " or dstddha person* violates the limita¬
tions imposed upon him when swimming a river, &c., he is not guilty (and
should not be punished) is also an evidence in point.*’ The rule that " anybody
who can save somebody’s wealth from absolute destruction owing to the
ravages of water or deluge*.(from rivers, &c.) has right to one-tenth ” points to
the same adaptation of juristic ideas to the physical features of the country.
Rivers are no negligible features in the topography of the country for
which SukrAcharyya’s code has been designed. The fact that rivers 10 are very
‘ i Sukra I, 478-9. * Sukra I, 425-28. ~~ ~~
■ Sukra IV, vi, 8-9. * Sukra IV, vii, 492.
• Sukra IV, vi, 11-12. 7 Sukra IV, v t 210-211.
4 Sukra III, 202-03. * Sukra IV, v, 564-04.
* Sukra IV, v, 001-2.
10 Sukra III, 288-284, “ one should not trust the abodes (beds or channels) of rivers.”
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changeful and constantly shift their beds was well-known. And the advice 1
that one should not cross the rivers by arms or get into a boat that is likely to
give way, indicates the familiarity of the authors with rivers. These are to be
wisely used in the interests of the state’s commerce. Means must be adopted
to make them highways of water-traffic, as also the impediments presented by
them to land-communication must be removed. That rivers should not be allow¬
ed to remain barriers to intercourse, as naturally they are, is sufficiently
suggested in the following advice: “ Bridges should be constructed over
rivers.* There should also be boats and water-conveyances for crossing the
rivers.” " Roads are to be povided with bridges.”*
But rivers have been mentioned in Sukran\li specially in connexion with
agriculture and land-revenue, and the inferences that can be made from
accounts of the natural resources of the state do also point to the import¬
ance of rivers as sources of the country’s national wealth. The observation of
Herodotus that 1 Egypt is the gift of the Nile * is in the Hindu sage’s language
expressed by saying that the lands are the 1 daughters * of rivers, or rivers
are the 1 mothers ’ of soils. But rivers are not the sole irrigators of lands, there
are other mothers of lands also e,g. t rains, tanks, wells, &c. In the assess¬
ment of lands the ruler is advised to make a distinction between land and
land on the basis of the nature of the source of water-supply. Thus 11 the
king should realise one-third, one-fourth, or one-half from places which are
irrigated by tanks, canals and wells, by rains and by rivers respectively.” The
equity of this diversity of assessment lies in the fact that where rivers are
irrigators the cultivation is certain, and hence the Government demand is
heaviest. But SukrAch&ryya is also aware of the fact that, though rivers are
superior to all other sources of irrigation in point of certainty, the moisture
yielded by them, however, is not copious,—and do in fact yield the palm to clouds
which, though precarious and uncertain, give abundant water when they do
pour down their contents. The difference between rivers and clouds is like
that between ordinary well-to-do men and sovereigns in the matter of riches.
And the analogy that naturally suggests itself is expressed in the following
lines : “ Can the nourishment that is due to the rain-water from clouds be
derived from the water of rivers 4 &c.? So also the promotion of the people’s
weal depends on the property of the king. Can this accrue from the wealth
of the rich folk ?”
From the above account of rivers* it would have been sufficiently clear
that the authors of the Sukra cycle were well-acquainted with the importance
of rivers in Politics, Commerce, Agriculture and Public Finance, and that the
general aspect of the country is that of a plain intersected by rivers rather
than that of rugged mountainous defiles and precipices.
1 Sukra HI, §2-58. * Sukra IV, iv, 125 129. » Sukra I, 85.
4 Sukra IV, ii, 227-229, of. also Chapter III, 552-554. «< Agriculture which is said to
have rivers for mothers is a good occupation
* Sukra V, 14-18.
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(c) Seas.
Coming now to the hydrosphere of SukrAcharyya’s country we find that
the sea is a familiar sight with the poets of the Sukra cycle. The connexion
between the moon and the sea is too well-known to all Hindu poets. In
describing or defining the seven constituent elements of a state Sukr&ch&ryya
characterises the first element, the sovereign, as by nature or by connotation
of the term the person who is the cause of the prosperity of this world, is
respected by the experienced and old people and gives pleasure to the eyes
(of the people) as the moon to the sea .” 1
A phenomenon connected with the sea which appears to have been very
familiar with the poets or at least known to them by hearsay, via., the
maritime navigation by boats, is very naturally pressed into service by the
poet in describing the evils resulting from the imperfections of the ruler. Thus
we read that M if the king is not a perfect guide his subjects will get into
trouble as a boat without the helmsman sinks in a sea. 1 ’* The comparison of
the king with a karqadh&ra* or helmsman piloting the ‘ship of the state* is
very suggestive. Nor is this all. The importance of sea 4 and maritime
commerce is adequately recognised by the statesmen of the Sukra cycle in the
plan they have framed for the site and structure of the Capital city. It is to be
situated at a place which, like the 1 city of the seven hills* in ancient Italy, is
to be near, but yet distant from, the sea.
Pliny ascribed much of the importance of Rome to this condition. We
find SukrhchAryya also suggesting that the spot is to be “ bestirred by the
movements of boats up to the seas.” The capital is to enjoy the advantages of
both rivers and seas. Communication with the sea has thus been recognised
as an integral factor of the state’s commercial wealth. It is also an element
of the sovereign’s political importance and dignity. The ambition of sway*
ing the destiny of an empire from sea to sea or ruling the world encircled
by the ocean has always fired the enthusiasm of Hindu kings and statesmen
as would be evident from even a superficial study of Sanskrit literature as
well as the inscriptions 4 on copper-plates and other materials describing gifts
of lands, &c„ to worthy persons or to the gods by sovereigns and ministers . 1
Flatterers and sycophants as well as court-poets when applauding the
merits of their protectors never stop short of the reference to the seas as the
natural boundaries of their conquered territories. This ideal of having an
* Sukra 1,127-28.
* Sukra I, 130-80.
* The mention of ndvikas, boatmen or sailors, in connexion with the various crafts or
industries to be maintained by the King (II, 404-6) also points to the importance of rivers
and seas in the topography of Sukrantti,
4 Sukra I, 425-28.
‘ Mr. Aiyangar's Ancient India contains various accounts of the maritime importance
of the Chola Empire and Kingdoms in South India ; and Mr. Akshay Kumar Maitra’s
Gaudalekhamdld or the Manual of the Inscriptions of the PAlas and Sens of Bengal gives
numerous evidences of the natural ambition of rulers to bo master of the seas.
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empire bounded only by the sea is also present in the imagination of
Sukr&chdryya, who, in urging the necessity of moral education of princes, sets
before them this laudable mission of their lives as a sufficient spur to their
self-culture. Thus, “how can the man who is unable to subdue one’s mind
master the world extending to the sea?” 1 Verily, the sea is the natural limit
of one’s ambition—the “scientific frontier” of Indian Napoleons.
An indirect knowledge of the sea and its inmates is suggested in the lines
which advise people always to be humble and modest. Thus “ the wise man
should never consider 1 1 am superior to all, 1 am more learned than others,’ for
one should remember that there is the animal which devours the devourer of
whales,* Rdghava is the devourer of that even, and there is the destroyer of
R&ghava The whale is certainly a sea-animal, and the mammoth fish Rdghava
is a monstrous marine creature celebrated in Hindu folk-lore.
Among the islands of the sea we have found that Sinhala or Ceylon has
been mentioned definitely by name as the place where people can make
artificial pearls. References to islands are to be met with only in two other
places in this treatise. Thus in describing the grades of rulers in the order of
their revenue Sukr&chAryya mentions the highest as the Sdrvabhauma 5 or the
paramount sovereign to be the ruler whose income, calculated according to modern
Indian monetary standards, would exceed Rs. 416,666,666, and “ to whom the
earth with its seven islands is ever bound.” The second mention of islands is
in connexion with the punishment of offenders. 41 Persons who are wicked by
nature .should be expelled from the commonwealth and bound and transported
to islands.” 4 The use of islands as convict settlements is unmistakably
suggested here.
From the foregoing description of general physical features of the country
as are suggested by casual references or 44 internal evidences,” it is not at all
possible to make any definite inference as to the exact locale or surroundings in
the midst of which Sukranlti might have been composed. The accounts are all
of a very general character and cannot be traced to any special sets of
geographical influences. It is, however, certain that the country does not
preseut a dull monotony or uniformity of physical aspects, both in lithosphere
and hydrosphere.
Section 4.
Climate and Soils .
The same diversity and variety of natural facts and phenomena of the
land of Sukracharyya would also be clear from an analysis of the other aspects
of its physiography, eg. % its meteorology, geology and vegetation.
/. Meteorology.
Though Sukranlti is not a text-book of physical geography, the varied
atmospherical and climatological conditions of the country familiar to the authors
1 Sukra I, 197-198. * Sukra III, 448-447. ~~~
’ Sukra I, 888-74. 4 Sukra IV, 215-218.
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can be gathered from various duties prescribed to kings and people as well as
from the description of customs and rites during the several periods of the year
and from the metaphors or similes occasionally used in elucidating or illustrat¬
ing the ideas.
Heavenly Bodies
The sovereign is the lord of both “movable and immovable worlds;” 1
and among the thirty-two vidyds or sciences there is the mention of Jyotisa as
one of the six Veddngas or branches of learning auxiliary to the study of the
Vedas. It is the science which “ measures time by studying the movements of
nakfatras (stars) and grahas 1 (planets)” and the aid of other sciences. Besides,
it is said that the movements, shape and nature of the naksatras * (stars) are
one of the factors in the division of time into epochs or periods. In all these
instances it is evident that Sukr&ch&ryya displays a knowledge of the heavenly
bodies, both planetary and fixed, and is acquainted with the facts of their
movements and their effects on time.
Some of these heavenly bodies have a double character—first, as members
of the Solar System governing the conditions of time, season, &c„ as noticed
above, and, secondly, as apotheosised into divine beings and made rulers of
certain directions of the Universe. The sun and the moon are two such gods
in Hindu mythology, and SukrAcharyya mentions that the sovereign, besides
being made out of the permanent elements of other gods,* e,g. t Indra, Vftyu,
Yama, Fire, Varupa and Kuvera (who are the lords of six specified regions
marked out by six points of the compass), has in him the attributes of\he sun
and the moon also. Thus “just as the moon pleases human beings by its rays,
so also the king satisfies everybody by his virtues and activities." Also,
“ as the sun is the dispeller of darkness (and the creator of light), so the
king is the founder of religion and destroyer of irreligion.”
Besides the above comparison of the king with the heavenly bodies which
is a common device in all Nitisdstras, the poets of the Sukra cycle have dis¬
played another popular fancy about the orbs of the celestial world. The nine
Mahdratnas or great gems mentioned in Sukran\ti have each a defty presiding
over it. These deities have to be satisfied by people by putting on the gem that
is favourite to each. These deities are the navagraha • or nine planets of the
heavenly firmament, viz., the Sun, the Moon, the Mars, the Mercury, the Jupiter,
the Venus, the Saturn, the Rahu and the Ketu. The subject will be treated at
length in the chapter on precious stones and metals. It may be mentioned here,
in passing, that the colour attributed to these deities apotheosised out of the
heavenly bodies, the navagraha , in the propitiatory hymns addressed to them
exactly corresponds with the colour and lustre of the Mahdratnas,—vajra,
muktd , pravdla , gomeda , indranila , vaiduryya, pusyardga , pdchi and mdnikya
which are supposed to be the favourites of those beings respectively.
1 Sukra I, 141-148. »8ukra fV, iii. 88-89. ~
* Sukra I, 41-42. 4 Sukra I, 14-1151.
1 Sukra IV, ii, 84.
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The Sum,
The Sun has been already referred to as having something to do with
Time in its capacity as a member of the Solar System. Its second character is
that of a deity who gives light, whose attributes the king possesses. Its third
character is that of one of the navagrahas , in which capacity it is to be propi¬
tiated by people by the use of the mdnikya} or ruby, 11 which has red colour and
the bright lustre of the Indragopa insect.”
Besides these super-terrestrial references, the mundane phenomena of the
Sun as the “ dispeller of darkness ”• and the source of heat have also been
mentioned in Suktanlti, Among the general rules of life it is stated that one
should not always look to the Sun (III, 61). Sukracharyya compares the
companionship of wicked characters to the rays of the burning Sun : “One
should abandon the company of bad men which is terrible like the desert
scorched by the summer Sun, s frightening and inhospitable.” The Sun’s rays,
however, are not all terrible, they are of varying degrees. So it is only towards
enemies that the king should display his character of the ‘ 4 summer Sun.” 4
But towards his own people he should present the milder front of the “ Spring
Sun.” 1
As to the division of time noted above it is mentioned that there are
three systems of temporal measurements. “ Time is divided according to three
systems—solar movement, 6 lunar movement (period from full moon to full
moon, f>., two fortnights) and according to Savana (period from morning to
morning, 24 hours).” These three 6 systems do not yield equal results,
the solar day being longer than the lunar; and so it is suggested that
11 in making payments of wages one should always take the solar* time, in aug¬
menting interest, the lunar time.”
The Moon .
The Moon, also, like the sun, has three-fold characteristics : (1) those of
a member of the solar system governing time, seasons, &c., (2) those of a deity
who gives pleasure, whose attributes the king possesses, and (3) those of the
apotheosised celestial* being who has to be propitiated by people by the use of
its favourite gem, vie,, muted 9 “which is of red, yellow, white and kydma
(greenish blue) colour.”
In Sukranlit, the sun and the moon have been mentioned very often
together : 10 and this not only with reference to the super-mundane affairs as
1 8 ukra IV, ii, 84-92. • Sukra II, 566-67.
* Sukra 1,140. • Sukra II, 788-789.
• Sura I, 825-28. T Sukra II, 789-7W0.
4 Sukra II, 586-67 • Sukra IV, ii 85.
* Prof. Yogetfa Chandra Ray has treated the subject very elaborately in his scholarly
work in Bengali on The Astronomy and Astronomers of the Hindus.
10 In describing feathers and hairy rings called bhramas on the horse's body Sukra
says that two such marks on the forehead with space between indicate good and are like
theSun and the Moon. (IV, vii, 206-207).
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noticed above, but also in the matter of secular references. Thus, if the influence
of bad men is like that of the burning sun, that of good people is like that of
the moon. 44 The man who is attended by good men gratifies the heart in the
same way as the moon 1 with its cool rays pleases the tank with its newly
blossomed lotuses.” This parallelism is carried forward to the elucidation of the
various attitudes the king should have. Thus, if he should be the summer Sun
to enemies, and the spring Sun to his own people, he should bear the attitude
of the autumn Moon to the learned people. The autumn is the season after
the rains, hence very clear and generally cloudless ; and the moon would then
shine in all its glory. The king who has this attitude must have the most
pleasant bent of mind; and this is what should be his mood towards the learned
people. But the sun in spring season is hot enough, though milder than the
summer sun ; and this blending of mildness with severity should characterise
his relations with the subjects, whereas he is to be solely severe and terrible
towards the enemies. Again, as mentioned above, not only the sun, but also
the moon governs the time. Among the three systems of temporal measurements*
one is that of the division of time according to lunar movement, and this is to
be adopted when the object is to augment the interest.
In Indian literature, generally, the moon plays an exceptionally conspicu¬
ous part. The poets of the Sukra cycle also have given indications of this
partiality in their composition. We meet with references to the moon alone
over and above the parallelism or antithesis between itself and the sun,
as detailed above. Thus, it was mentioned in connexion with the sea that
44 the king is the cause of prosperity of this world, &c., and gives pleasure to
the eyes of the people as the moon to the sea.” Then again, in enumerat¬
ing the divine parts or attributes of the sovereign, Sukra asserts that he
should possess all the qualities of the eight gods. Otherwise, he is a medi¬
ocre. 44 As the moon 1 does not shine well if deprived of one of its parts,
so the king does not flourish unless he has all the parts described above.”
The moon is thus beautiful and splendid only when it is full. But there are
beauties and beauties; so the beauty of the moon, when deprived of some of
its parts, say a quarter or a half or even seven-eighths,* is not insignificant.
The shape of the half moon is a beautiful sight to the poets of the Sukra cycle,
who have suggested that * 4 the capital should have the beautiful shape of the half
moon’ or circle or square.” The moon in Indian literature is not only a stand¬
ard of beauty, but is also a common object-lesson of gradual growth. Thus the
crown-prince is 44 to grow slowly like the portion of the moon 8 in the bright
fortnight.” There is another convention with Hindu poets regarding the parts
of the moon. If the waxing of the moon in parts through a whole fortnight
supplies the analogy for the development of adolescence in infants, especially
» Sukra I, 828-824. * Sukra II, 5M-567. ~
• The Astronomical knowledge of the poets of the Sukra cycle will be dealt with in a
subsequent chapter. * Sukra I, 429-480.
• Sukra I, 127-128. ' Sukra II, 101.
• Sukra 1,152. • Sukra Ul, 482-488.
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princes and princesses, the waning or the gradual reduction of its parts through*
out the dark fortnight supplies the stock-in-trade for Comparison with the giving
away of wealth and property in charity. In the chapter on general rules of
morality for the people, SukrAchftryya thus describes the effects of gifts: " In
this world there is nothing more capable of subduing others than charity and
simplicity. The moon 1 that has waned through gifts, when waxing, is beautiful,
though in the form of a curve.'* Here we have both the beauty of the curve and
the comparison of giving away with waning In the same line. It has to be noted,
moreover, that shape is only one of the elements in the beauty of the moon. The
other element is lustre. SukrAChAryya mentions it when describing a weapon
of war, e& the H Kfurapr&nta which is high to the navel, has a strong fist and
the lustre" of the moon.”
The Atmosphere .
We have seen above that the ambition of paramount sovereigns in India
was never restricted to the lithosphere and that in quest of victory they must
reach and govern the hydrosphere also. The glory of swaying even the atmos¬
phere is, likewise, another touchstone of monarchical sovereignty. With Hindu
poets it is a common device in extolling their heroes to cry them up to the
skies, both literally and figuratively. The mao or sovereign whose fame
does not reach the skies is not a famous person indeed. Kalidasa in introducing
the rulers of the solar dynasty to the readers pf his celebrated Raghuvamsam
mentions their mastery of the three worlds, the land, the water and the aerial
regions in one short line, d&amudra-ktitiidndm dndkarathavartmandm (#> n
his heroes were rulers whose sway included the earth and the sea and whose
chariots used to traverse the highways of the sky).
Sukracharyya, therefore, in order to make his precepts of discipline
and self-control palatable to the princes, does not forget to give them a sugar-
coating by mentioning the glorious and enviable results of practising them
in life. Thus, ''of the monarch who has conquered his senses, and who
follows the NltisSstra, prosperity is in the ascendant and fame reaches the
skies.”*
There is another reference to the sky in Sukranlti . This is in connexion
with the adoption of proper policies and methods of work with regard to friends
and foes. " By appropriate means the terrestrial beings can soar into the sky*
and even the thunder can be pierced.” The efficacy of human intelligence
is here illustrated by allusion probably to the air-chariots of ancient times,
called Vimduas or Pu^pakarathas which have had a strong bold on Hindu
popular tradition. Such an air-chariot piercing the thunder, #>., going beyond
the regiou of clouds, and traversing the whole distance of India from
Ceylon in the South to Ayodhya in Upper India has been immortalised by
.K&lidAsa in the 13th canto of Raghuvamsam .
1 Snkra III, 482-438. • gokrs 1,801-802.
* 8nkra IV, vU, 427. 4 8akra IV, 60.
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The Air or Vayu has been mentioned as one of the eight gods whose
attributes the king possesses. Its function is propagation or diffusion. Thus
44 as Vayu 1 is the spreader (and diffuser) of scents, so is the king the generator
(and cause) of good and evil actions.” The current of the air has been
suggested in the line which advises the king to move along the line of least
resistance, just as 44 clouds do not move against the wind.” The poets of the
Sukra cycle have also mentioned the air as the friend of fire in order to draw
the moral that Right always should follow Might and that morality does not
flourish where there is no strength. The precept is given in the following
lines : 14 One should follow nlti or the moral rules so long as one is powerful.
People remain friends till then ; just as the wind* is the friend of the burning
fire.” A common phenomenon regarding the air has also been recorded : 44 It
is possible to protect the lamp with its wick and oil from the wind* with
great care.”
The Clouds.
Clouds and rains have been often referred to in Sukranllt\ as we have seen
above in connexion with rivers. Rains 4 are some of the physical factors in
the division of time into periods or epochs. The analogy by which the poets
of the Sukra cycle illustrate the advantages of punctuality, regularity and
keeping to time generally, indicates the very important place rains occupy in
the physical and economic conditions of the people among whom they lived. The
work done at the time appointed for it is certain to produce good results. Thus
rains* in time give rise to plenty, but otherwise are highly injurious. In
India, the land of monsoons, where people depend on the rains for cultivation,
uncertainty and precariousness of the rainy season mean famine and ruin.
This observation of the author, therefore, is certainly to be attributed to one
of the predominant features of the physical environment. The same idea
has been repeated in section i of Chapter IV: 44 Where the clouds do not pour
rain 6 in season, there the lands are not productive and the commonwealth
deteriorates, &c.”
The lands that are irrigated by clouds pouring their contents upon them
are said to be devamdtrtka , *>., to have the gods or natural agencies, e.g., Indra
the cloud-god, for their parent; just as lands watered by rivers are known
to be nadimdlrika, to have them as their mothers.
We have noticed previously that Sukrftcharyya’s Land-Revenue-Policy
is equitable and elastic. Thus, where rain is the source of moisture, agricul¬
ture is precarious and uncertain, since the monsoons do often fail. Hence, the
demand of the Government is to be very small compared with that from lands
irrigated otherwise. 4 ‘ The king should realise one-third, one-fourth or one-
half from places which are irrigated by tanks, canals and wells, by rains* and
i Sukra I, 145. 4 Sukra I, 673-574.
■ Sukra IV, vii, 870-877. ‘ Sukra 1,108.
» Sukra 1,41-42. * Sukra IV, i, 122-128.
’ Sukra IV, U, 227-228.
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by rivers respectively.” It has also been noticed above in connexion with
rivers that, though rivers are certain when compared with rains, they cannot
however yield the plenty that nature does. Thus ,4 can the nourishment that
is due to rain-water from clouds 1 be derived from the water of rivers?”
There are two other references to clouds in SukrattUt] one is about their
colour. The Mah&ratna Indranila which is Saturn’s favourite, has the 11 colour
of black clouds.”* The other reference mentions them as the source or mother
of pearls. 8 This will be discussed in a subsequent chapter.
The Seasons .*
The foregoing accounts of the country of the poets of the Sukra cycle
leave no doubt that, generally speaking, it is (i) a land of the powerful sun and
( 2 ) a land of rains. It is thus both hot and moist.
It is a noteworthy fact that there is no reference to extreme cold
throughout the whole treatise, though there often occurs the idea of extreme
heat. All the six Indian seasons of two months each have been mentioned in
the treatise; and their explanation has been given to be the influence of
temperature (/>., hot and cold) and moisture ( i.e., dry and wet). SukrAchAryya
divides Time in two ways: ( 1 ) Social or human, *>., historical, according
to the events and movements in man's social life, e.g. t the age of Asoka, the
epoch of the Reformation, &c., and ( 2 ) Physical, according to (a) the seasons
and (6) the rotations and revolutions in the solar system which bring in days,
nights, months, years. We have already alluded to the influence of the
41 movements, shape and nature of the planets ” in connexion with the heavenly
bodies. Here we shall point out the references in Sukranlti to the weather
and seasons affecting the country’s climate as determined by heat 1 and cold
as well as drought and moisture.
The summer 6 which presents the sun scorching the desert has been
already noticed ; and we have also found that the king should present the front
of the summer sun* towards the enemies. The summer being a terribly hot
season, Sukra’s advice to horsemen and jockeys of the Cavalry Department
is that they should ride the horse 8 in the evening during that period, and to
gardeners 8 that they should water the plants twice a day in the morning and
evening. Again, as for the seasons of warfare, the “summer 10 is the worst.”
In India the summer is technically known to be the period of two months from
the middle of April to the middle of June.
The rainy season extends from the middle of June, when the monsoon
generally sets in to the middle of August. We have already noticed the
1 Sukra V, 14-15. » Sukra IV, ii, 90. * Sukra IV, ii, 117-118.
4 flee the summary of Kftlidasa's RitummMra or * Cycle of Seasons’ in Macdonell’s
History of 8ans. Literature, p. 837.
‘ Sukra I, 41-42. • Sukra IV, vii, 266-267.
• Surka I, 325-326. • Sukra IV, iv, 105-106.
* Sukra II, 666-567, »° Sukra IV, vii, 446-448,
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importance given by the poets of the Sukra cycle to the regularity or punctu¬
ality of the rains, also the place they occupy in the economy of nature from
a calculation of which equitable assessments of Land Revenue are to he made.
In the rainy season horses require to be carefully treated, and Sukra's positive
advice to horsemen 1 is not to use them during that period. It is not a good
season for the use of carriages," cars or chariots. Nor is it a convenient
time for warfare. “ In the rainy season* war is not at all appreciated, peace
is desirable then.** But it is very convenient for gardeners and agriculturists
who are advised never to water the plants 4 during this period.
The Indian Seasons have played a great part in the history of Indian
warfares. The monsoons which give rise to tempests and heavy downpours,
swollen rivers, and malarial swamps have decided the issue of many battles
and sieges in Eastern India. Relativity of politics to geographical environ¬
ment is nowhere better illustrated than in. the influence of the rains and
rivers in Bengal and Assam. Can this, however, point indirectly to the locale
or surroundings of the poets of the Sukra cycle ?
The autumn is a delightful season in India, generally cloudless, or ratber
with deceptive invisible clouds, extending from the middle of August to the
middle of October. The autumn moon is celebrated in Indian poetry, because
its lustre is then gloriously set off against the background of a pure blue sky.
We have seen that SukrScharyya, in advising the sovereign to put on his most
agreeable attitude when be has to receive learned men, asks him to be like the
autumn moon. As for riders, they are enjoined to use the horse* in the morning
in this season. The autumn is also one of the best seasons 9 for warfare.
bTe Hemania is the season which forebodes the advent of winter. It
extends from the middle of October to the middle of December. There are
only two references to Hemania in SukranUt , both in connexion with military
affairs. The Hemania? being a mild season, of decaying heat and increasing
cold, horses may be used both in the morning and evening. It is also^ like
autumn, one of the best seasons for warfare.*
The winter is the next two months and has been mentioned in connexion
with the riding of horses and also as a season for warfare. As in the preceding
season, horses may be used both in the morning and evening in winter. It
is likewise the most convenient period of the year for military operations.
It is also enjoined that gardeners need not water the plants everyday in
winter; 9 they should do this every alternate day. As we have said above, the
Sukra poets have dilated on the summer and its effects, but about the cold and
the effects of winter generally they are very reticent. There is a mention of
kima as one of the agencies that may injuriously attack the grains of the fields.
But it is not clear what the purport seems to be. It may mean both dews and
» Sukra IV, vii, 268. * lotos IV, vii, 266-207.
• Safer* IV, vii, 862-863. * Safer* IV, vii, 446-448.
9 Safer* IV, vii, 446-448. * Safer* IV, vii, 266-267.
4 Safer* IV, if, 106-106. • Safer* IV, vii, 466-468.
* Safer* IV, iff, 66-67,
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snows. The king has been advised to preserve in a store-house against future
calamities such M grains as have not been attacked by poisons, fire or snows 1
(dews ?) or eaten by worms and insects, Ac.”
There may be a presumption that the summer being the principal season of
the area within which the poets lived has left its influence upon their work;
while the winter there being only one of the six seasons, and of no considerable
inclemency, has been but scantily noticed and has had a very subsidiary effect
on the poets’ thought and life. If anything can be argued from the negative,
it may be mentioned, as we have had reasons to state above, that the country
of the poets of the Sukra cycle is a land pre-eminently of the summer and the
rainy seasons.
The last Indian season is the Spring extending from the middle of Febru¬
ary to the middle of April. It is the season par excellence of Hindu poets, the
period of the hegemony of Madana, the Cupid of Hindu mythology. But the
poets of the Sukra cycle are too prosaic statesmen and diplomats to be swayed
by the conventions of orthodox poetical style. In fact, the whole work of Sukrft-
chftryya bears throughout the character of a serious matter-of-fact treatise on
the most momentous problems of human life ; and the authors have systemati¬
cally and consistently maintained their dignity by not indulging in a single
superfluous epithet or unnecessary descriptions and digressions in the interest
of rhetoric, word-painting or the like; though no doubt the arrangement is
occasionally diffuse and inconsequential, as in the works of Adam Smith and
Montesquieu. Sukramti is the last work to be handled for specimens of literary
grace or embellishments. This is unfortunately one of the many reasons which
prevent it from being characterised as the work of a certain epoch of literary
history. Its style is that of solid scientific Sanskrit and cannot be easily put
into one of the classes of ordinary poetry in Sanskrit literature. This will be
elaborately discussed in a subsequent chapter.
There are four references to the spring in Sukran\ti. The first is that in
which the king is advised to be like the spring-sun, #>., neither too mild nor too
severe, in the treatment of his own people. The second is in connexion with
the use of horses. As in the Hemanca and winter, one should ride the horse
both in the morning and evening in the spring season . 1 The third reference
describes it as a good season* for warfare, better than the rains and the summer,
but worse than the autumn, Heraanta and winter. The fourth mention of the
spring is in connexion with the watering of plants during this period. This is
advised to be done in the fifth part of the day, *>., in the afternoon.
II. Geology.
As could be inferred from the accounts given above, the country of Sukrft-
chSryya is mainly agricultural. From the diverse references to the occupations
of the people it would be apparent that the soil is one which is fit for pasture
and agriculture. And from the frequent mention of grasses, woods, forests
1 Safer* IV, iii, 6S-67. * Sukra IV, iv, lOt-lQS.
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and other signs of rank luxuriant vegetable growth, also, one could easily infer
that the crust of the earth is made up of damp alluvial soil. But the poets of
the Sukra Cycle know of other regions besides these fertile plains. They
mention deserts scorched by the summer sun, as we have noticed above.
Among fortresses 1 there are those in deserts also, and these are superior to the
forts which are surrounded on all sides by ditches only. Then there are the
“ barren and rocky soils from which, according to the humane legislation of
Sukrdchdryya, the king should realise only one-sixth as Government Revenue,
as opposed to one-half from lands irrigated by rivers. Sukra mentions
“uneven ” 5 grounds also, and advises the horsemen to take special care in, or
rather refrain from, using those regions. It is not clear, however, what is
meant by 1 uneven ’ lands. 'I here may be a reference to ordinary undulations
as are to be met with often in plains, or even to hilly tracts which are uneven
wholesale.
The treatise of Sukrdchdryya contains several references to the earth
underground. That the earth carries in its womb precious metals is a common¬
place idea in Hindu literature. Possession of wealth is, in fact, an attribute of
the earth. Sukracharyya also says: “ The man who is powerful, intelligent and
valorous enjoys the earth 4 full of its wealth.” This is Sukra’s version of the
idea contained in the adage Virabhogyd Vasundhard (the Vasundhard t the earth,
which bears wealth can be enjoyed by the heroes alone). * Mines ’• have been
often mentioned as one of the sources of Government Revenue. The section on
Treasure gives details about precious stones, metals and other mineral pro¬
ducts/ This will be treated fully in the next chapter— The Data of Ancient
Indian Mineralogy.
The mention of sulphur 1 and Suvarchi salt (Saltpetre) in connection with
the preparation of gunpowder may, however, be noted here.
Section 5.
Flora and Fauna.
We have found the country described in Sukranlti to be a land of diverse
natural and physical features. Its wealth of mineral resources has also been
hinted at in the last section. Nor is the land poor in its vegetable and animal
denizens. The poets of the Sukra Cycle have nothing to do directly with
plants, trees and shrubs or with birds, fishes and mammals. It is only in a
subsidiary or auxiliary capacity, e.g., as bearing on the social, economic and
» Sukra IV, vi, 2,11-12. » Sukra IV, vii, 268.
* Sukra IV, ii, 230. « Sukra I, 849-50.
‘ Sukra II, 211-212, 671-072 ; IV, ii, 213.
* These and allied subjects have been dealt with in the Bengali works on Gems by
Prof. Yoges Chandra Ray and Dr. Ramdas Sen as well as in that valuable exposition of
Hindu Culture in some of its secular aspects, The History of Hindu Chemistry, by Dr. P. C.
Ray.
T Sukra IY, vii, 400-404.
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political life of man, that these creatures of the lower living world have any
place in the treatise of Sukr&ch&ryya. But even then the authors have displayed
a good deal of knowledge about the habits, habitats, food, diseases and structure
or external characteristics of the plants and animals, as well as the uses to
which they are put by man for the furtherance of his ends of life. We shall
form an estimate of the Botanical and Zoological knowledge of these authors
of the Sukra Cycle in subsequent chapters. This, together with an account
of the mineral products of the country, would give an Economic Geography (as
well as History) of India in ancient and mediaeval times. In this section we
propose to give only the names of the plants and animals occurring in Sukranili .
i. Plants.
Grasses and woods have been mentioned several times. Among the
functions of the Sudras one is that of carrying wood and grass . 1 The Capital
should be situated at a place that abounds in trees and shrubs and plants, is
endowed with good supplies of grain and is happily provided with resources in
grasses and woods. There is an injunction that the wall of the capital city
should have ifiany strong shrubs.® Among the persons to be expelled from the
commonwealth like 44 * sturdy vagabonds ” are people “who live on alms even
though they are capable of collecting wood and grasses .” 4 Men who collect
grasses and woods* have to pay revenue to the state to the extent of one-third,
one-fifth, one-seventh, one-tenth, or one-twentieth.
Vast forests* where elephants run to and fro have been mentioned
figuratively in connexion with the moral training of the sovereign. “In a
forest® of six yojanas (i>., forty-eight miles) the best Rdjamdrga is to be
constructed; in the middle, the average, and between the two the worst.” So
the Forest-Administration of the State has provision for roads in extensive
woody lands. Forests® are rich in wild games which are to be killed by kings
in their hunting excursions that should be regular features of their lives. The
forests are administered by a special officer* well up in agri-flori-horti-arbori-
culture, as we should say in modern times. Solitary forests should not be
frequented or even visited by people. This is one of the general rules of
morality. The man who has a bad wife or who has to live on alms has been
advised to 41 * prefer life in a forest .” 10 Forests are the places where wild trees
should be planted. Among forest-produce there is the mention of honey.
yreepers have been mentioned only once. “Pandits, females and creepers 1 \
do not flourish without resting grounds.” The causes of the development of
flowers 1 * and fruits are known to the superintendent of parks and forests.
Three of the sixty-four halas or arts are the planting, grafting and preservation
1 Sukra 1, 85-80.
* Sukra I, 425-428.
* Sukra I, 478-470.
4 Sukra IV, i, 200-210.
* Sukra IV, ii, 287-288.
4 Sukra 1, 108-104.
* Sukra I, 528-520.
8 Sukra I, 005-000.
9 Sukra, II, 817-810.
10 Sukra III, 570-577.
11 Sukra I, 707.
13 Sukra II, 817-810.
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of plants, the use of preparations from sugar-canes 1 and the knowledge of the
mixtures of metals and medicinal plants. Every root is supposed to have
medicinal properties (II f 954-955).
Sukrdcharyya has divided trees into two classes, domestic and wild, and
enumerated them in Section iv of Chapter IV. Besides these trees, several
plants have been mentioned in Sukran\tt ’, by name, which are being enumerated
below: bamboos (IV, ii, 117-118; IV, iii, 190), lotus (I, 911-919), mustard
(111,619-690), betels (IV, fti, 198), paddy, tila, mftsa/mudga, yava (IV, iv, 107-108),
peas, IV, vii, 985-286), cotton (IV, vii, 356-357), arka, snuhi, wheat (IV, vii,
43 ** 33 ) and garlic (IV, vii, 400-404).
A careful study of the 4 ‘ habitats " or 14 Distribution ” of these trees, plants
and shrubs is likely to be of considerable help in determining the geography of
the locality which produced the Sukr*n\li, This will be done in a subsequent
chapter. The study of Plant-Geography with this object is more important
than that of the distribution of minerals. For minerals, as commercial mer
chandise, may be transported easily from the localities which produce them,
whereas plants are more or less stationary commodities which tell their own
tale as to the soils, surroundings, etc.
9. Animals.
Facts of Zoo-Geography also, like those of Botanical Geography, can be
gleaned from passages in Sukranlti . But the enumeration of the animals
referred to in it, though no doubt it may point, to a certain extent, to the
physical environment of the authors' lives, is less important in this respect than
that of plants, since common domestic animals, e.g „ birds, etc., as well as those
used in the Army may be brought from a distance as marketable commodities.
This aspect of the question, together with the knowledge of Zoology displayed
in the work, will be treated at some length in a forthcoming chapter. Here
we shall simply enumerate the various animals mentioned in the work to give
an idea of the diversity of the lower creatures that has left its impress on the
work of the authors of the Sukra Cycle.
Snakes and tigers have been often mentioned, and in various connexions.
Among the wild animals or 44 big games " of the forest we find lions* and bears. 3
The domestic animals are many, cows, buffaloes, goats, cats, dogs, sheep,
deer. The aquatic animals are the fishes, cowries (II, 719-713), conches (II, 402-
403), whales, 4 Rftghava, 4 crocodiles, tortoise (I, 531), oyster shells.* The
Animal-corps consists of the horse, the elephant, bulls and camels. Among
birds we have the cuckoo (I, 337*33 8 )> the peacock, 6 the drake (I. 337-338), the
cock (I, 654-657), the parrot (II, 300-2), the crane (I, 654-657), the pigeon or dove,
the partridge, the hawk (II, 300-21) and the chdsha (IV, ii, 87). Besides these,
there are monkeys (I, 654-657), boars, 1 ants (III, 20-22), worms (III, 20-22),
flies (III, 33-34). bees (III, 33-34) and rats (I, 654-657).
4 Sokra IV, vii, 144-147. 4 Sakra III, 446-447.
* Sokra IV, i, 48-40 ; IV, iv, 881-884 ; II, 85-87. 4 Sokra IV, ii, 117-118.
6 Sokra IV, vii, 880. * Sokra 1,885-88; 1,665-666.
’ Sukra III, 263-368.
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CHAPTER III.
THE DATA OF ANCIENT INDIAN BTHNOIiOGY.
Section i.
Sukranlti as a source of Ethnological Information.
Having briefly surveyed the plants and lower animals in the preceding
sections it now remains to point out the races or tribes of men mentioned in
Sukranlti to complete the picture of Bio-geography that may be deduced from
it. But the poets of the Sukra Cycle are very chary of any positive informa¬
tion regarding the various nationalities that lived in their time. Sukranl/i is the
last work in which one should search for ethnographical details about ancieqt
India. We have seen also how poor the work is as a manual of ancient and
mediaeval Indian geographical names. This is all the more striking, since the
work being purely socio-economic and socio-political is expected to be rich
specially in the names of kingdoms, peoples, princes and cities. But as the
matter stands, the authors fight shy of individual names and deal only with
generalities. That the country was a land of diverse races, creeds and tongues
as well as of diverse plants, animals, minerals and natural features is evident
from the references to 44 other lands and peoples/’ * 4 strange countries,” 44 coun¬
tries and languages ” we have already discussed, as well as from the mention
of the writing of the characters of the various languages as one of the sixty-
four kalds or arts. We have already noticed also that among the benefits of
travel has been mentioned the pleasure of knowing the numerous religious
customs, materials, races of men ,* hills, etc. The caste divisions with their
intermixtures and customs (both domestic and social) which the Sukra authors
have described in detail will form the subject of a separate chapter. The in¬
termixtures,* and antyajas that have been mentioned in the section on the arts
and sciences refer to the castes and will be treated along with them. Here we
propose to survey the few details about the races of men mentioned in the
treatise.
Section 2.
The Races .
The following are the tribes mentioned in Sukranlti : (1) Yavangs, (2)
Khadas, (3) Mlechchas, (4) Purvadevas or Asuras, (5) Rak$asas, (6) PisAchas,
(7) KirAtas, (8) Aryas.
Havanas.
We have seen in a previous chapter that Yavanas, according to Sukranlti,
“have all the four castes mixed 5 together. They recognise authority other
than that of the Vedas and live in the north and west, their sdstras have been
1 Bukra III, M2-2C8. * Sukra IV, iii, 22-23. * Sukra IY, iv, 74-77.
1
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framed for their welfare by their own masters. But the rules that are followed
for ordinary purposes are the same in the two cases.” The purport is, that
Yavanas differ from the children of the soil only in religion, but in matters of
business, politics and the like there is no difference. The poets of the Sukra
Cycle have mentioned Yavanamata or Yavaqism as one of the thirty-two vidyds
or branches of learning. It is that philosophy which 11 recognises God as the
invisible Creator of the Universe and recognises virtue and vice without refer¬
ence to Sruti and Smriti, and which believes 1 that Sruti contains a separate
religious system.” It is thus the non-Vedic creed, or speaking generally, an
alien or non-national faith.
Khadas .
We have seen that the Khaias have been mentioned only once. They
are a people living in mountainous tracts to the south and west of the vale of
Kashmir. They are a people “ who marry the widows of their brothers.”*
Mlechchas .
Sukracharyya refers to Mlechchas five times. “ Those who have deserted
practising their own duties, who are unkind and troublesome to others, and
who are very excitable, envious and foolish are Mlechchas.”* The term has
been used here metaphorically to connote certain undesirable, barbarous or
alien characteristics rather than denote a race or tribe of men etbnologically or
politically or even socially distinct from the ruling or predominant people.
We find the term used in its literal sense as the name of a distinct race, caste or
Class of men in the following lines which describe the qualifications of persons
from among whom recruits are to be drawn for the army as 11 officers ” and
“men.”. “ Those who are well up in Nltisdstras , the use of arms and ammuni¬
tions, manipulations of battle array and the art of management and discipline,
who are not too young but of middle age, who are brave, self-controlled, able-
bodied, always mindful of their own duties, devoted to their masters, and haters
of enemies should be made commanders and soldiers whether they are Sudras,
or Ksatriyas, Vaisyas or descended from Mlechchas .” 4 These lines exclude
only the Brahmanas of the predominant or the Aryan race recognising the
system of castes and stages, and allow all the other three castes to be enlisted
in the army. They, however, mention a fourth class of men who may be likewise
enrolled. They are evidently beyond the pale of Aryaism or Caste-and-
stagism and certainly form a social polity by themselves.
^This literal sense, however, is not observed, in the following lines. 11 The
king who does not punish the false-speaking spy becomes the destroyer of the
people’s persons and properties and is called Mlechchha .” 1 Here it is
equivalent to an abuse or condemnation. The fourth reference in Sukran%ti to
the Mlechchas is in the literal sense of a race. This is in connexion with the
Laws of Property.
" i Sukra IV, iii, 124-178. * Sukra 1,87-88.
* Sukra IV, v, 08. 4 Sukra II, J78-J80.
• Sukra I, 875-878,
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11 In the SAstras sources of income as well as the castes are known to be
various, and that Dharraa of the SAstras always binds even the Mlechchas.” 1
According to the injunctions of SukrAchAryya the Mlechchas also must abide
by the regulations regarding title to property which are cj^eyed by the Brah-
magas, Ksatriyas, Vaifyas and Sudras, i.e. f the four castes of the Arya race.
If the Mlechchas or whom the Greeks would have called “Barbarians,” do not
respect these laws, the community would be jeopardised, as is implied in the
next line. “ For the preservation of the community these have been fixed by
previous sages.” This is exactly what has been said about Yavanas* who,
following their own apostles in matters of faith, must respect the civic laws of
the state in which they live. The poets of the Sukra Cycle have displayed a
pre-eminently modern conception by thus allowing freedom of religious con¬
victions and practices but compelling obedience to one and the same system of
non-religious laws throughout the realm. On the one hand, religious neutrality
or toleration which implies a diversity of creeds, and on the other, uniformity
or unity in economic, political and other secular interests,—these are the
notions of the statesmen of the Sukra Cycle in the passages regarding the
Yavanas as well as Mlechchas.
The literal sense of the term is to be noticed in the following lines where
Mlechchas have been taken almost as a fifth caste or, at any rate, representing
a class of men who do not fall within the fold of the four castes: “ Not by birth
are the BrAhmana, Ksatriya, Vaigya, Sudra and Mlechcha s separated, but
by virtues and works.” Here, again, we have a very rationalistic interpretation
of the Caste System, and this leads in the following lines to the use of the
words, BrAhmaqa, Ksatriya, &c., almost in the metaphorical sense.
The Demi-gods,
Purvadevas 4 or Asuras are the disciples of the sage SukrAchAryya. It is
in the lectures of this Professor to his pupils that the present manual of socio¬
political science is said to have had its birth. The works of Plato and
Aristotle in ancient Hellas had similar origins in the lectures to their pupils
at the schools of the Academy and the Lyceum.
VAtApi is a king of the Asuras 1 mentioned by Sukracharyya to have been
ruined through folly. Asuras have been mentioned as wicked beings or demons
who attend the divine beings, the gods in the religious rites which are celebrated
for them. They are in fact demigods, and their images have to be constructed
along with those of the benign gods who destroy them. Sukra enjoins that
M the images of Pisachas and Asuras 6 are to be always sixteen t&las (12 angulas
make 1 t&la). Hiragyakasipu, Vritra, HirapyAksa, Havana, Kumbliakarna,
Namuchi, Nisunibha, Sumblia, Mahis&sura, Raktavija—these are to be sixteen
tdlas in height.” These are extraordinary dimensions, considering- that the
ordinary images of gods are to be not more than seven, eight, nine or ten t&lag
j sukra IV, v, 586-587. 4 Sukra 1,1-8. ~
* Sukra IY, iv, 76-77. * Sukra I, 287-296.
• Sukra 1,75-76,77-88. • Sukra IY, iv, 179-182.
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{or feet), and the normal is always the seven-tala type for Kali Yuga. It is
clear that Asuras here do not denote a race of human beings, but a class of
demi-gods or supernatural creatures—the Titans of Hindu Mythology.
Raksasas are likewise a race of Titans, the enemies or rather rivals of
gods, and have been mentioned in Sukranlti not so much as human beings as
mythical giants. But as in the case of Asuras one of their kings has been
mentioned along with other Paurapika kings and Rishis as instances of failure
through vices. We read that “Raksasa 1 Paulastya was ruined through
vanity.” About the images of these Raksasas we are told that “ they are to be
ten td/as* These images like those of the Asuras, Pisichas and Raksasas,
who may be figuratively regarded as their tribesmen, are to have 11 long thighs
and legs, to be ferocious, cruel and vehement,* or sometimes very lean
and thin.”
Forest Tribes .
Kiratas are a class of Aranyaka or forest-tribes. They have been men¬
tioned only once in Sukranlti , and that in connexion with the division of the
Army into two orders—that of the Standing Army and that of the Militia or
National volunteers. To this latter class belong the “ Kir&tas 4 and people
living in the forests who have their own resources and depend on their own
strength.” These wild tribes are enlisted as soldiers, and they bring their own
arms and accoutrements. These are probably independent races who do not
ordinarily acknowledge suzerainty of the neighbouring chief.
Ary as.
The word 1 Arya * has been mentioned only once. We are told that the
41 man who abuses the Aryas* and the gods” is one of those who are to be
expelled by the King from the Commonwealth.
Section 3.
Identification.
We have now gone through the accounts of the Sukra poets about the
various races mentioned by them in their work. It is doubtful if we should
regard Purvadevas or Asuras, Rakpasas, and Pis&chas referred to in the
treatise as races of men, for they are really half-men, half-gods, belonging rather
to the regions of demons, goblins and giants than to the mundane world of
human beings. As for the others, the details are very few indeed. Except the
Khadas who can be identified, as they have beeiKin Stein’s Raj Tarangini % the
Yavanas, Mlechchas and Kiratas are more or less generic names of races
very difficult to identify until the date of Sukranlti is fixed. This is, as I have
suggested previously, petitioprincipii at the present stage of our knowledge
regarding the branch of Hindu literature known by the name of Arthasdstras
or Nltisdstras.
1 Sukra 1,187-290. • Sakra IV, iv, 898-880.
* Sakra IV, iv, 171-172. - Sakra IV, vii, 28.
•Sukra IV, i, 195-196.
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The terms Mlechcha and Yavana are very elastic, 41 chartered words ••
as they are called, and have been very loosely applied by Indian authors
to anybody who is not of their race, religion or country. They correspond to
44 Barbarians ” of the Hellenes, Pagans ” or 44 Heathens ” of the Christians,
44 Kafirs” of theMusalmans, and 44 Welsh ” of the English people. That these
terms had definite 1 connotation’ as well as 44 denotation’’ in the initial stages
of their history there is no doubt. But in the course of time, at any rate in
Sukranlli , they have come to be almost identical or synonymous, and as we
have seen, both of them metaphorically used to indicate anything that is igno¬
minious, vile or despicable. What, however, we can definitely gather from the
passages in the works of the Sukra Cycle leads us to the idea that perhaps the
term Mlechcha is the genus and Yavana is one of its species. Thus Yavanas
are a class of men who belong to the Mlechcha group of human races.
The term Kirdla, again, had a special significance when first used. But
in Sukranlli it seems to be a generic name for all forest tribes without any
special race-characteristics.
Though Sukranlli is silent about the homes, characteristics, etc., of the
races incidentally mentioned in it, it would be interesting to know them from
other sources. We, therefore, proceed to throw a sidelight on these races from
accounts to be found in Sanskrit Literature.
Yavanas .
We have already discussed the locality and nationality of the Yavanas
and quoted at length Dr. Mitra's conclusions. We may mention here that
the word Yavana is not to be found in Vedic literature. The newly published
44 Vedic Index of Nantes and Subjects ” (in two volumes) by Messrs. Macdonell
and Keith does not notice either Yavanas or Mlechchas among the sixty-six
tribes 1 or races enumerated in its index. The following observations of Principal
P. T. Srinivas Iyengar,* however, are important not only as throwing some light
on who may be regarded as the counterpart of the Yavanas and Mlechchas in
the age cf the Mantras , but also as contesting the orthodox theory of the
Aryan invasion of India:
44 The Vedic Mantras mention the names of about forty tribes who inha¬
bited the regions known to their composers. * * * * Scholars have given the
name 4 Aryas’ to those tribes among whom the Mantras were composed and
applied the name to a supposed Aryan race which sent successive swarms\>f
invaders to India, Persia, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, Britain, and civilised
those lands in pre-historic times. But the progress of anthropology has proved
the invasion and civilisation of Europe by the 4 Aryans ’ to be a myth. Scholars
yet cling to the theory of an 4 Aryan * race so far as India is concerned.
* * * The Aryas and Dasyus or D&sas are referred to not as indicating
different races, * * * The words refer not to race but to cult. * * * Arya meant
a worshipper of Indra (and Agni), and Dasa or Dasyu meant either demons
1 See pp. 590-1. * Life in Ancient India, pp. 8-15.
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opposed to Intlra or the people that worshipped these demons. * * * The
Dasyus are without rites, of different rites, fireless, non-sacrificers, without
prayers, without Riks, haters of prayer. * * * * Thus the difference between
the Aryas and Dasyus was not one of race but of cult. Nor was there any
difference of culture between the Arya and Dasyu. The Dasyus lived in cities
*** possessed wealth, * * owned many castles. *** Indeed Dasyu and Arya
have been understood respectively as enemies and advocates of the fire-cult
* * Sdyana defines Aryas to be those that sing hymns, practising fire-rites, and
Dasyus to be enemies who destroy the observers of fire-rites, riteless.”
Leaving aside the controversy as to whether the distinction was one of cult
and faith only or of culture and race also, we need not hesitate to look upon the
Dasyus or Dasas, the enemies of the Aryas, as the “ Yavanas ” of Vedic India
according to the definition of Sukracharyya.
The following extract from Mr. C. V. Vaidya’s Epic India 9 would throw
a fresh light on the topic.
IC In the Vedas the Aryans speak of themselves as distinguished from the
Dasas or aborigines and the Asuras or Iranians. Gradually through the epic
period they lost sight both of the Iranians by distance and of the Dasas or
aborigines by extinction or assimilation. They now spoke of the Aryans as
distinguished from the Mlechchas who surrounded their country. Let us ex¬
amine who were included in that word. When the cow of Vasistha created the
Mlechchas to destroy the army of Viswamitra who was trying to take her away
by force it is stated that the co# created from the serveral parts of her body
the Pallavas, the Dravidas, the Shakas, the Yavanas, the Shabaras, the
Paundras, the Kiratas, the Sinhalas, the Barbaras, the Rhasas, the Chibukas,
the Pulindas, the Chinas, the Hunas>;the Keralas, and many other Mlechchas.*
* * * It appears plain that the Dravidian peoples of the south were looked
upon as Mlechchas equally with the Yavanas and Shakas. It seems also
probable that the Aryans of India knew these Yavanas and Shakas and Huhas
and Chinas long before they actually invaded India.*'
In A Peep into the Eirly history of India* Dr. Bhandarkar identifies the
Yavanas with the Bactrian Greeks on the strength of a passage from Patanjali
•and the tradition alluded to by Kalidasa in the Mdlavikdgnimitra that Pushya*
mitra’s sacrificial horse was captured on the banks of the Sindhu or Indus by
Yavana cavalry. 41 The instances given by Patanjali * * * are A run ad Yavandh
Sdketam : Arunad Yavano Madhyamikatn. This shows that a certain Yavana
1 Sukrficlifiryya’s account of Yavanas, who respect authority other than that of the
Vedas and who have their own spiritual masters, exactly corresponds to this description
of the enemies of the Vedic Aryas.
a Pp. 25-26 (Edition of 1007).
* Jt would thus appear that Yavanas' are a species of Mlechchas, as has been
suggested above ; not Yavanas only, but also the Khasas and the KirAtas mentioned in
Bukraniti are thus two branches of the Mlechchas.
4 Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1900), pp. 870-72.
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or Greek prince had besieged Saketa or Ayodhya and another place called
Madhyamika when Patanjali wrote this. The late Dr. Goldstiicker identified
this Yavana prince with Menander. * * * In another place Patanjali gives
Saka-Yavanant , as an instance of an aggregate Dwattdwa which signifies that
they were Sudras and lived beyond the confines of Aryavarta." In an analysis
of the historical inscriptions in the Cave-Temples of Western India 1 Dr.
Bhandarkar says: 11 Gotamiputra Satakarni quelled the boast and pride of
Ksatriyas and destroyed the Sakas, Yavanas and Pallavas.” On the evidence
of inscriptions and coins his conclusion is that the Graeko-Indian or Yavana
kings* were in possession of parts of India from about the beginning of the
second century before Christ to the arrival of Sakas.
Dr. Bhandarkar's testimony refers to the Yavanas as rulers or warriors,
and as such we find them in Ayodhya in Upper India, and also in the Deccan,
the land of the Satavahanas or Andhrabhrityas. But as a people with a certain
culture, language and faith the Yavanas- have been known to the Indians since
at least the sixth century B. C. when Panini the great grammarian 9 flourished.
Mlechchas .
About the more generic word Mlechchas we qoute the following from Mr.
Vaidya’s Epic India : 4
11 At the end of the Epic Period the word Arya comprises not only the three
castes, but also the Sudra within it and is opposed to Mlechchas.” Thus “all
peoples who are outside the castes born of the head, the arm, the thigh, and
the foot of Brahmft, whether they speak the Aryan or the Mlechcha languages
are Dasyus.” (Ma.nu X, 46 .)
The following is also taken from the same work :
“The Mahabhftrata, Bhlsma Parva, Chapter IX, mentions 157 peoples in
Hindustan properly so called, 50 peoples in the south, *r., to the south of the
Nerbudda, and about 14 Mlechcha peoples beyond India in which term we
include Afghanistan as well as Kashmir. * * * The countries and peoples to the
east 1 were originally looked upon as Mlechchas . 8 They were the Angas,
Vangas and the Kalingas. * * The Northern 1 Mlechchas comprise almost
all those people who were undoubtedly known at the end of t the epic period
after the conquests of Alexander. But we cannot but believe that many
of these peoples must have been known to the Aryans several centuries .before.”
“The Mlechchas* who attempted to speak the Sanskrit language
committed mistakes/' as would be evident from the following verse in the Adi
1 Early History of the Dekkan, Section IV.
* A Peep into the Early History of India.
* Dr. Rajendralala Mitra's I ndo-Aryans, Vol. II, (Edition of 1881), pp. 177-178
4 P. 27.
* East of the Oandaki, the river mentioned in 8ukraniti also.
* Vaidya’s Epic India, pp. 280-288*
» Ibid, p. 271.
* Ibid , p. 881.
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Parva of Mahhbh&rata: 11 ndryd mlechchhantibh&sh&bhih ” or the Aryas do not
‘ralech'chhise’ in speech, as the commentator explains it, do not commit mis¬
takes in speaking, as has been already alluded to in connexion with Yavanas.
The Mah&bhArata constantly speaks of the Aryas, i>, the orthodox population
of the country between the Himalayas and the Vindhya range as distinguished
from the Mlechchas who inhabited countries beyond these whether to the East,
South or the AVest. In the Bkifma Parva it is expressly stated in the begin¬
ning that the peoples were Aryfls, Mlechchas and mixed races .” 1
The metaphorical or non literal use of the words, Arya, Yavana and
Mlechcha in certain passages of Sukraniti has already been hinted at. There
are instances of this use in the Mahabharata also. Mr. Vaidya says : “The
Aryans had not only not forgotten their race, but had also not forgotten the
superiority of their race in morality, and we find the epics constantly using
the word Arya to signify what is good and high, conscious of the facts that the
word meant originally a race and that high morals were characteristic of that
race only. Andryajushia • is an expression of frequent occurrence in the
epics showing that “ not practised by the Aryans ” was synonymous with “not
good ” or “not moral/*
For the earliest use of the word Mlechcha we have to refer to a passage
in the Satapatha Brahman a, “where it occurs in the sense of a barbarian* in
speech. The Brahmana is there forbidden to use barbarian speech.”
The long extracts from the works of Mr. Iyengar, Dr. Bhandarkar and Mr
Vaidya must have made it clear that the Yavanas and Mlechchas have been
names of different peoples in different periods scattered over various parts of
India; and until and unless the date of Sukraniti is fixed it is impossible to
identify the tribes who are meant by the poets of the Sukra Cycle in the passages
which describe them as living in the North and West, professing non-Vedic
faith and obeying their own spiritual guides. Or perhaps in these lines we
have a clue to the date of the work, or at any rate, of certain portions of it. For
whatever be the age of other parts of Sukraniti, it may be presumed that these
lines were the composition of men at the time when Yavanas were definitely
known to live in a specified quarter of India, namely pratyaguttara , i.e t ‘North-
Western * or ‘ Northern and Western.’
Aryas.
We have incidentally noticed above that the word Arya was often used
not for a race but for the qualities of good breeding, etc., that the civilised people
or orthodox Indian nations represented. In the passage quoted above from
Sukraniti regarding the persons who abuse the Aryas as well as gods, it is doubt¬
ful if the word has been taken literally or metaphorically. But from the general
trend of the whole treatise we may gather that a people “consisting of all the
1 Vaidya’s Epic India , pp. 38-24.
* Valdya’s Epic India, p 24.
s Note on the word Mlechcha in the Vedic Index by M&cdonell and Keith, Vol. II,
p. 181.
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four castes is here meant as distinguished from the Mlechchhas.” Messrs. Mac-
donell and Keith 1 give the following history of the word in Vedic literature:
u Arya is the normal designation in the Vedic literature from the Rig-Veda on¬
wards of an Aryan, a member of the three upper classes, Brahmana, Kshatriya,
or Vaisya. * * * The Arya stands in opposition to Dasa, but also the Sudra.
Sometimes the expression is restricted to the Vaisya caste. * * * The word
Arya also occurs frequently as an adjective to describe the Aryan classes or
names. * * * Aryan foes are referred to beside Dasa foes, and there are many
references to war of Aryan versus Aryan. • • • In the later Samhitas and
Brahmanas the wars alluded to seem to be mainly Aryan wars.” It is thus
clear that the three upper castes were called Aryas and the lowest the Dasas.
In the course of time, t\e., during the post-Vedic ages, the lowest classes, the
Dasas or Sudras, constituted the fourth caste of the Aryas. And the name Arya
became opposed to Mlechchha, as we have seen above in the extracts from Mr.
Vaidya’s Epic India .
Kirdtas .
1'he Kiratas have been mentioned in the Mahabharata as a species of
Mlechchhas born out of Vasistha’s cow. Kalidasa’s hero, Raghu, in his digvijaya
or * conquest of the quarters of the globe’ overpowers the Kiratas and other hill-
tribes, somewhere near the Kailasa mountain in the Himalayan ranges. The
word is found in Vedic literature also. The following is taken from the
note on the word in the Vedic Index of Nantes and Subjects : 1 “ Kirata
is a name applied to a people living in the caves of the mountains. * * Later,
the people were located in Eastern Nepal, but the name seems to have been
applied to any hill-folk, no doubt aborigines, though the Mdnava Dharma
Sdstra regards them as degraded Ksatriyas.
Rakfasas and Pisdchas.
It has already been remarked that Rak§asas and Pisachas, as used in
Sukranlti , seem to be half-men, half-gods, and not full human beings. ” In the
early Vedic literature* Raksas refers to demons, and is only metaphorically
applied to human foes. No definite tribe is meant.” This is the verdict of
Messrs. Macdonell and Keith, who also assert that 11 similarly Pisachas are not a
tribe in Vedic literature, whatever they may have been later.” The following
is their note to the word Pisdcha : 11 Pisacha’ is the name of a class of demons
mentioned in Atharvaveda and later. In the Taittiriya Samhitd they are
associated with Raksasas and Asuras, while opposed to gods, men and fathers.
In the Atharvaveda they are described as eaters of flesh. * * It is possible
that the Pisachas were, as suggested by Grierson, really human foes like the
north-western tribes. * * This is, however, not at all likely.”
The following extracts from Mr. Vaidya’s Epic India give us some idea of
the homes of the Raksasas, whether regarded merely as 1 ghouls * or real
1 Fedie Index of Names and Subjects, VoL I, pp. 64-6, in the “ Indian Text ” series,
* Vol. I, pp. 167-168. » Ibid, Vol. II, 616.
8
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human beings : u The Rakshas and Rakshasas were originally a people who
lived on the sea-coast. * * * Even in their conquest of the Punjab and the Upper
Gangetie valley the Aryans must have sometimes come in contact with fierce
cannibalic Dravidian races. * * * Aryan adventurers * * plant colonies in the
Central Provinces only at suitable places, though they were frequently
infested by R&kshasas. * * * In the Rakshas form of marriage the bridegroom
was allowed to abduct by force the daughter of a Kshatriya whether she was a
willing party or not. * * * The modern Deccan was pre-eminently the country
of the Rakshasas."
A suras.
Asura is a very important word in Sanskrit literature, both Vedic and
post-Vedic. We are especially interested in it, as our author Sukra is the guru
or preceptor of the Asuras.
Rev. K. M. Banerjea is one of the first scholars to have studied the
etymology of the word ‘Asura* and the nationality of the race denoted by it.
The following is taken from the Preface to his Arian Witness :* “No term
in the Rig-Veda seems to have puzzled students, translators and commentators
more than the word Asura. The modern idea denoted by the term is that of
an ogre and a demon. The idea is annually embodied in the person of the
Mahisftsura among the figures worshipped at the Durga Puja. He appears
there as the fiercest of the goddess’s enemies receiving his death wounds at her
hands. In the Rig-Veda, however, the gods themselves are, all of them termed
and accosted as Asuras, and one of them, introduced at the moment as the
Creator of the Universe, is called the all-knowing and wise Asura. And yet
the same Veda elsewhere gives an opposite picture of the character indicated
by the term, corresponding to the modern ideal of a demon and an ogre, and
the very same individuals are sometimes represented as Asuras, and again
lauded as destroyers of Asuras. * * The Rig-Veda continues a witness of both
senses, but the later Vedas and all subsequent Sdstras give exclusively the
odious sense of evil spirits, hostile to gods and Brahmanas and inimical to their
long-cherished institution of sacrificial ceremonies.”
This double character of the Asuras as (i) gods as well as the people who
worship the gods, and ( 2 ) devils as well as the people who worship the devils has
been explained by the evidences of Comparative Philology. The two branches
of the Primitive Aryans, viz., the Iranians (Persians) who have developed the
Zend Avesta with the theogony of the Asuras, and the Indo-Aryans (Hindus)
who have developed the Rig-Veda with the theogony of the Devas were once
living on the same soil in a common home. Various causes of differentiation
led at last to their separation as enemies and vilification of each other.
The two stages of their relations, viz., friendly as well as inimical, have been
portrayed in the sacred literature of both the peoples. It is in the second stage
1 Vedic Index by Macdonell and Keith, Vol. I, p. 588.
1 Vaidya’s Epic India , pp. 8, 7, 8, 808.
3 Published by Thacker, 8pink & Co. (1875).
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of their relations that the Iranian devils are the Indo-Aryan gods, and the
Indo-Aryan devils are the Iranian gods. Thus the dsuras who are the
beneficent gods of the western branch of the Aryans, have become the worst
enemies of th e devas, the gods of the eastern branch; while, the devas of the
eastern are the devils of the western.
1 This interesting topic has been dealt with by Dr. R&jendralala Mitra in his paper
on Primitive Aryans in Indo-Aryans, Vol. II, and also in a short article by Mr. Mahesh-
chandra Ghosh in the Bengali Monthly, the Pravdsi, Vol. VI, No. II, pp. 587-598. For some
of the characteristics of these eternal enemies of the Indian gods and peoples, see also
Mr. Vaidya’s Epic India , pp. 28, 25, 27, 98, 181, 294, 298, 858, 484, 504., and Fausboirs
Indian Mythology (Luzac & Co.)
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CHAPTER IV.
THE DATA OF ANCIENT INDIAN MINERALOGY.
Section i.
Sukraniti as the 1 Architectonic ’ Science.
Writing about Montesquieu, the French Philosophical historian of the
eighteenth century, in his History of French Literature , Dr. Edward Dowden
says: 44 The scientific researches of his day attracted him; investigating
anatomy, botany, natural philosophy, the history of the earth, he came to
see man as a portion of nature, or at least as a creature whose life is largely
determined by natural laws. With a temper of happy serenity and an admir¬
able balance of faculties he was possessed by an eager intellectual curiosity.
4 1 spend my life,’ he said, 4 in examining; everything interests, everything
surprises me.' Nothing, however, interested him so much as the phenomena of
human society. He had no aptitude for metaphysical speculations; his feeling
for literature and art was defective."
Exactly the same character-sketch would apply to the Hindu sociologist,
SukrAchAryya, if we were to construct his biography out of the internal
evidences culled from the literary production that is connected with his name.
The same non-metaphysical and pre-eminently human outlook, the same positive
and scientific standpoint, the same comprehensive and encyclopaedic conception,
the same aversion to literary and artistic flourish mark the intellectual frame¬
work of the authors of the Sukra cycle.
The merits and shortcomings of Sukraniti are identical with the merits
and defects of the Esprit des Lois' which has been characterised by Janet in
his Historie de la Politique as 44 undoubtedly the greatest work of the eighteenth
century ’’ and classed with Rousseau’s Contrat Social as forming together the
literary source 1 and spring of the revolutionary movement. The following
are the words of Dowden about The Spirit of Laws : "'The whole of his mind,
almost the whole of his existence—is embodied in the Esprit des Lois . It lacks
the unity of a ruling idea ; it is deficient in construction, in continuity and cohe¬
sion. * * * It lacks unity because its author’s mind was many-sided. * * * He
would warn and he would exhort; he would help, if possible, to create intelli¬
gent and patriotic citizens. * * * Its ideas often succeed each other without
logical sequence. * * * But he brought the study of jurisprudence and
politics, in the widest sense, into literature, laicizing and popularising the
whole subject; he led men to feel the greatness of the social institution.”
‘Published iu 1748.
* Sidgwick’s Development of European Polity (1908) Lecfc. XXV,
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'the satrie may be said of Sukranltx , also, which has proposed for itself thd
function of prescribing rules for the promotion of human 1 welfare, and the
furtherance of the interests of both peoples and kings. One finds in it the
same copiousness of illustrations and multiplicity of details, the same occasional
defects in arrangement and incoherency of treatment.
The explanation of this strength as well as weakness of the work is to be
sought in its very scope and province, which are those of the 1 science of all
sciences,* the 11 architectonic** or the dominant science, as Aristotle would call it.
Sukraniti, as such a master-science, in order to fulfil its mission as a guide-
philosopher-friend to every class of human beings, must survey the whole
universe from the planet to the sea-gull, and the daffodil to the star.
Section a.
The Synthetic Philosophy of Sukrdchdryya.
All the facts and phenomena of the mineral, vegetable and animal worlds
have bearings on human life and social progress. Professors of the “ architec¬
tonic ** science, therefore, have need of them. According to Comte,* social
science is subordinate to Biology and is ‘‘related to the whole system of In¬
organic Philosophy, because Biology is so.* 1 11 The whole social evolution of
the race must proceed in entire accordance with biological laws. * * * It is
only by the inorganic philosophy that we can duly analyse the entire system of
exterior conditions—chemical, physical, and astronomical—amidst which the
social evolution proceeds, and by which its rate of progress is determined.*’
John Stuart Mill also believes that the scope of any profitable study of man’s
action in society must be co-extensive with the whole of social science. Accord¬
ing to him, “ a person is not likely to be a good economist who is nothing else.
Social phenomena, 8 acting and re-acting on one another, cannot rightly be
understood apart.” «Dr. Ingram 4 gives prominence to this encyclopaedic char¬
acter of Social Studies in his article on Political Economy in the Encyclo¬
paedia Britannka (ninth edition). His conclusion is that Political Economy
cannot any longer command attention as a fruitful branch of speculation
unless it is*subsumed under and absorbed into general sociology.” Not only-
economics, but politics also, “canonly be scientifically studied as one part or
application of the Philosophy of History.” Says Professor Sidgwick : “1
agree with Mill in holding that the scientific study of the different kinds of
governments that have actually existed in human society ought to be pursued
in close connexion with the scientific study of other important elements of the
societies in question. * * * The division of intellectual labour ought not to
1 Sukra 1,4-24. ~ ~
2 Carver’s Sociology and Social Progress (1906), pp. 66—87.
* Marshall’s Principles of Economics.
4 Keyne’s Scope and Method of Political Economy , Third Edition (1004), pp. 112—141.
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be carried so far as to make us forget the influence exercised on government
by other social changes, 1 for instance, by the development of thought, of
knowledge, of morals, of industry.” The science of Public Finance, also, which
is closely related to Economics, Politics and History, is, as such, a study of
man's social activities, and hence only one of the branches of the Architec¬
tonic science—Sociology.
The differentiation and specialisation of the sciences according to the
principles of the division of labour have undoubtedly rendered immense service
to the world of speculation. The physical sciences have been rendered more
and more precise, mathematical and exact. The human sciences also have
tended in the same direction. But this ‘ progress ’ of the sciences in the
acquisition of mathematical accuracy has necessarily deprived them of their
realistic and concrete character. The growth in * exactness’ and necessary abs¬
traction has militated against the efficacy and utility of each alone as a manual of
guidance to human beings. Modern philosophical thought is fully conscious of
this ‘other side’ of specialisation, and recognises the limitations of the specialised
sciences in the matter of framing practical rules or duties of life. Thus Dr.
Keynes observes : “ Few practical problems admit of complete solution on eco¬
nomic grounds alone. * * * More usually when we pass to problems of taxation,
or to problems that concern the relations of the state with trade and industry,
or tp the general discussion of communistic and socialistic schemes—it is far
from being the case that economic considerations hold the field exclusively.
Account must also be taken of ethical, social, and political considerations that
lie outside the sphere of Political Economy regarded as a science * * * If the
art attempts a complete solution of practical problems, it must of necessity be to
a large extent non-economic in character.” This defect is inherent in all
specialised sciences. The science, therefore, that would lay down absolute
rules for the regulation of human conduct, cannot with advantage be separated
from general political and social philosophy.*
Sukranili is such a science or art of social philosophy and legislation.
The authors of the Sukra cycle, without caring to expound their methods^of
investigation and explain the ‘logic ’ of their science, have unconsciously followed
the method of the most synthetic and comprehensive art that would turn to
account all the physical and human sciences in order to prescribe the ‘ whole
duty of man.* The countrymen of Sukrfichfiryya were not, however, poor in
methodology. The ancient scientific machinery of the Hindus has found an
able exponent in Dr. Brajendranfith Seal, 8 ^ whose short but erudite monographs
have furnished the sound philosophic basis of the modern Indian school of his-
torico-sociological research.
1 Sidgwick’s Elements of Politics (1891), pp. 5—6.
3 Keyne’s Scope and Method of Political Economy , Third Edition (1904), pp. 55—68.
• For Seal’s Mechanical, Physical and Chemical Theories, as well as Scientific Method
of the Ancient Hindus, see Dr. Kay’s Hindu, Chemistry , Vol. II., pp. 59—290.
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Section 3.
The Place of Mineralogy in Su]tran\ti.
It is this comprehensive view-point of the Sukra legislators that supplies
the rationale of their discussion of purely physical and material phenomena
in their treatise on morals. Investigations regarding stones, gems, metals,
minerals, buildings, roads, gardening, images, forts, arms, weapons, plants and
animals—all these are integral parts of the Nitisdstra, according to this
conception, which otherwise would remain incomplete. Mineralogical, Architec¬
tural, Sculptural, Botanical, Zoological, Veterinary and Agricultural ideas
have thus a natural and necessary place in the Sukrantti t and are not mere
appendages calculated to swell its bulk.
Consistently with this, we might expect greater prominence given to clima¬
tological and general geographical facts in the work of the Sukra statesmen, as
in the work of Montesquieu. But, as we have seen, Sukranlti is rather defect¬
ive in this respect. It treats of the geographical and meteorological phenomena
in a very subsidiary capacity. As auxiliary to the main study, Sukra authors
might devote greater attention to the Earth which is the theatre of all human
activities and one of the principal aspects of the positive background of a people's
social life. The authors, however, refer to the hills and rivers, seas and seasons
very casually and incidentally, as it were, to illustrate their points or explain their
ideas. This is all the more strange, since the observation and tabulation of na.
tural phenomena were regularly instituted in ancient India in order to determine
the fortunes of men and princes. Thus the Brihat Samhitd , an astronomical
and astrological work of the 6th century A D., is a comprehensive study 1 of the
physical features and aspects of the universe, e.g. clouds, rains, planets, winds,
earthquakes, storms, plants, animals, jewels, &c., and of their influences on the
course of human affairs—social, economic, and political. This treatise is the
41 Physics and Politics " of the Hindus written about 1500 years ago, and antici¬
pates 41 the Spirit of Laws” the first important European work on the study of
physical forces and energies, as affecting human history by, over eleven centuries.
The treatment of mineralogy in Sukraniti is threefold:
(1) As a feeder or contributor to the ‘ architectonic' science, Sociology,
the position of Mineralogy is inevitable like that of the other physical sciences.
(2) As incidental or stray references which cannot be prevented in any
work of considerable proportions, Mineralogical, like Botanical, Engineering,
1 The scope and province of this work have been described by the author himself in
Chapter II. See Iyer’s Translation (printed at the South Indian Press, Madura, 1884),
pp. 8-12. See along with this Buckle’s History of Civilisation , Yol. 1, Montesquieu’s 8pirit
of Laws, Book XIV (English Edition in the World's Great Classics Series), Bagehot’s Physics
and Politics, Dunning’s Political Theories, Vol. II, pp. 418-428, 112-113 (Macmillan 1905),
Bluntschli’s Theory of State (Third Edition, 228-238). In4880-1882, a trial'was made in
the Baroda State to ascertain whether the probable rainfall of the coming monsoon could
be predicted from observations of clouds according to principles laid down in Brihat
Sanihitd. The result was eminently successful.
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Zoological, and other ideas of physical science, furnish valuable clues to the
general culture of the epoch or epochs in which portions of Sukranlti might have
been composed. Our treatment of Geographical Data in a preceding chapter
has been mainly directed by this search for 1 internal evidences,* as they are
called.
(3) As directly bearing on the socio-economic and socio-political interests
of man. The authors of the Sukra cycle have a judicious sense of proportion
and scientific selection. They are not tempted to long-winded and labyrinthine
inquiries involving prolix digressions within digressions that characterise the
Encyclopaedia Indie as , called the Purdnas, Facts of physical science have been
laid under contribution only according to their need. These writers have dis¬
played the same rational discrimination that marks the literary activities of
modern thinkers. Says Dr. Keynes: 1 14 While Economics has to take account
of the operation of physical laws, it is still concerned with them only indirectly.
It does not seek to establish pr explain the physical laws that are involved in
agriculture or mining or manufacture. This is the function of such sciences as
mechanics, chemistry, geology and the science of agriculture. * * * The
relation of political economy to the physical sciences is then simply this, that
it pre-supposes them ; it is sometimes concerned with physical laws as premis¬
ses, but never as conclusions. * * * The science is not directly concerned
with the technique of different trades and occupations,”
In treating of the minerals, metals, stones, &c., (as the other facts of physical
world), the philosophers of the Sukra cycle have closely followed the method of
the moderners. Thus the chemical, crystallographical, medicinal, and meta¬
physical speculations over the gems and metals have been sedulously avoided by
them. Sukranlti has referred to the metals and precious stones only as they affect
the economic, financial and political life of the people. The Data of ancient
Indian Mineralogy that this work on social and moral legislation yields would
thus afford a valuable picture of the commercial geography and economic history
of the country in by-gone days, as we have hinted at in a preceding chapter. For,
though “the distribution of minerals over the surface of the earth is much less
obvious phenomenon than that of plants and animals, it has always been of great
importance* in determining the distribution of man and his settlements.”
Like the geographical data, these would supply some of the evidences by
which it may be possible to fix upon the locale of certain portions of the treatise
as well as their date.
Section 4.
History oj Hindu Mineralogy.
(a) Literature on Metals.
The philosophers of the Sukra cycle have drawn upon mineralogical
literature very sparingly indeed. One cannot but admire the sobriety and
» Keyne’s Scope and Method of Political Economy (1904), pp. 84-86.
? Jfewbigin’s Modem Geography in the Home University Library Series,
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restraint of these authors when one remembers how easily they might tend
to indulge in the mythological, alchemical and metaphysical notions regarding
the mineral world which held sway over both the East and the West 1
for centuries. The Sukra authors have very creditably displayed their
ratiocinative intellect and scientific spirit by rejecting all other aspects of
precious stones and metals known in their literary circles, and using only such
facts and figures as are relevant to the socio-political scope of their work.
For the uses of minerals have been known to the Hindu? from the earliest
times. In 1877 the late Dr. Udoy Chand Dutt brought out his Materia Medica of
the Hindus ,* in tjie first part of which he gave on account of tl\e mineral or
inorganic medicines used in ancient times under five heads : (1) mercury, (a)
metallic ores and earths, (3) metals, (4) salts, (5) precious stones; of the mode of
their preparation, their chemical composition, and the principal combinations
in which they were employed in different diseases. About the same time
Dr. Rajendralal Mitra’s Indo-Aryans and Antiquities 0/ Orissa revealed to a
certain extent the knowledge of the ancient Hindus in the use of metals and
gems in arts, industries and handicrafts.
In order to appreciate the value of Hindu mineralogical literature that is
implied and indicated by the actual use of minerals for the diverse purposes
of human life, it is necessary to estimate the present character and history of
the science as it obtains in Europe.
M Mineralogy 9 is the science which describes and classifies the different
kinds of mineral matter constituting the material of the earth’s crust and of
those extra-terrestrial bodies called meteorites. The study of minerals is thus
a branch of natural history, but one in which certain of the exact sciences find an
application. The determination of the composition and constitution of minerals
is a chemical problem ; their optical and other physical properties are deter¬
mined according to the principles of physics ; the study of the crystalline form
and structure belongs to crystallography ; their modes of occurrence, origins,
associations and changes come within the province of geology hnd petrology;
while a consideration of the localities at which they are found requires some
acquaintance with geography. Finally, there is the economic side, dealing with
the mining and application of useful minerals, the extraction of metals from their
ores and the uses of minerals for building, decoration and jewelry."
The above description of the science can appl^ to Mineralogy in its last
and very modern phase since about i860. Says the Editor of the Mineralogical
Magazine :* 41 It was not until the end of the 18th aiid beginning of the 19th
century * * * that any advance was made in scientific mineralogy. It was then
1 For an account of the progress of Alchemy in Europe, see the Story of Alchemy
by Muir in the Library of Useful Stories Series.
* The materials supplied by this work have been subsequently laid under contribu¬
tion in the preparation of Hindu Chemistry by Dr. P. C. Kay and in the work of Goodal.
* Encyclopedia Britannica —11th Edition.
4 Encyclopedia Britannica— 11th Edition.
0
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recognised that * * * * external characters were more or less accidental. * & *
In 1809 exact measurements of crystalline forms of many minerals were made.
* * * In 1819 and 1821 * * * impetus to optical examination. * * * Under
the microscope • * exact determination (1867).”
It would thus appear that in the west the scientific era is essentially
modern, to be counted only by generations. All writers on minerals and allied
subjects have up to the beginning and the first two decades of the 19th century
been interested only in such aspects as would, in modern phraseology, be
regarded as mainly 1 unscientific.*
Such Hindu writers on minerals in ancient and mediaeval mines are a legion.
It has been a fashion for long to credit very little of original achievements
in secular literature and civilisation to the people of Hindustan. But this
notion is being falsified by the explorations and researches of Indologists.
So far as minerals and jewels are concerned, Sanskrit literature 1 has been
very prolific in producing treatises which have varied from epoch to
epoch, according to the changes in the culture of the people. We have
already referred to Dr. Dutt’s survey of the chemico-medical uses of minerals
by the ancient Hindus. This work is based on standard Sanskrit medical
works and has copious references to the original literature on the subject.
Dr.Prafulla Chandra Ray has discussed the historical, chemical, medicinal, metal¬
lurgical, and generally the scientific values of some of these treatises or sections
of treatises in his celebrated History of Hindu Chemistry . The late Dr. Raradas
Sen of Moorshidabad* contributed in Bengali a monograph on the gems from
original Sanskrit sources and edited the Agasli-matam , Ratna-Samgraha and
Ma#i-parik§d, three Hindu works on precious stones. The subject of precious
stones and jewels has also received an elaborate and comprehensive treatment in
Bengali, especially in their crystallographical, economic, and geological character,
in the hands of Prof. Yog^s Chandra Roy of Cuttack, who has tried to inter¬
pret the knowledge of the ancient Hindus In the light of the modern sciences. The
enlightened Doctor of Music, R&j& Sir Saurindramohan Tagore’s work on
gems called Manimdld published in 1881, covers over one thousand pages.
This encyclopoedic work compiled in Sanskrit, Hindi, English and Bengali
languages has drawn illustrations from over one hundred Sanskrit, English
and Persian works. Of these, the number of Sanskrit authorities consulted
is sixty-four.
Among the modern exponents of Hindu culture in these branches, Dr. Ta¬
gore’s monumental work was followed by Dr. Sen’s. Neither o( them, however,
tried to combine the East with the West in their endeavours. That has been
1 The Vastuvidyas , Silpaacistras, &c M and other branches of Hindu secular literature
will be treated of in a subsequent chapter.
2 With the help of Pandit Kali vara Vedintav&gisa (1885).
• See Rutna~parik§a by Prof. Yogesh Chandra Roy, who has also noticed the work
of Sir R&ja R4db&k&uta Dev, the Savda Kulpadnima , a Sanskrit Encyclopaedia (1822-
1858).
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done by Dr. Dutt, Dr. Prafulla Chandra and Prof. Yoges Chandra, who have
succeeded them and brought their scientific scholarship to bear on the mineral-
ogical literature of the ancient Hindus. It is from the learned works of these
scholars that the following summary of treatises on metals and gems has been
compiled.
Mineralogy is not the forte of the Sukra philosophers. They are not
specialists in this branch of learning. At any rate, their scope does not allow
them to display any special knowledge regarding the metals and gems. They
have to deal with these things, because they are the * sinews of war’ and form
the kosa (or treasure) or one of the seven constituents of the Rdstra
or the state. Their knowledge of these valuables must, therefore, depend on
the literature of the specialists who flourished along with them. But as
the geography as well as chronology of the authors of the Sukra cycle are
anything but certain, it is all the more necessary that we should have an idea
of the progress of the Hindus in mineralogical knowledge. For it is then only
that one can assign the historical and geographical value of the section on
metals and gems in Sukranili .
The knowledge of the Hindus on the subject of metals has been dis¬
covered in all branches of Sanskrit literature from the earliest times to the
middle of the sixteenth century A. D. From Dr. P. C. Roy’s Survey of Hindu
Chemical 1 literature we get pari passu the following epochs of mineralogical
culture in ancient and mediaeval India :
I. Vedic Literature. 8
The following is the list of metals compiled for the Vedic Index s by
■Macdonell and Keith : Ayas (bronze, iron), Kdrsndyasa (iron), Candra (gold),
Jdtarupa (gold), Trapu (tin), Rajata (silver) Loha (copper), Lohdyasa , Lohi -
tdyasa , Sydrna (iron), Sydmdyasa , Sisa (lead), Suvarna (gold), Harita (gold),
Hiranya (gold).
“ Rudra 4 is described as shining with brilliant golden ornaments. * * *
The Aswins are also adorned with golden ornaments. The Asuras had plenty
of gold and jewels," “ Blacksmiths 5 made spears, swords, hatchets, needles,
awls, iron legs for those who had lost their natural ones, iron-forts * * •
Goldsmiths melted gold and fashioned bright jewels."
1 This survey is necessarily connected with the history of medical knowledge of
the Hindus, and is in fact another aspect of the same thing. Dr. R&y’s work therefore
closely follows, and is to a certain extent based upon, that of Dr. Dutt. See Dr. Sen’s
chapter on metals in Ratnarahasya , also Prof. Yogesh Chandra’s Essay on metals in
Ratnapariktfi. See the History-of Aryan Medical Science by the Thakur Saheb of Gondal
(1895), pp. 184-188,145-147, and Medicine of Ancient India , Part I, Osteology (Oxford, 1907)
by Dr. Hoernle, pp. 1-18.
•See Atharaoa-V eda in the Howard Oriental Series pp. 17 (amulet of lead), 85 (gold
amulet), 272 (amulet of three metals).
> See Yol. II, p. 584.
4 R&jendr&l&l Mitra’s Indo-Aryavs, Vol. I, p. 227, which gives several evidences
from the Vedas about the knowledge and use of metals.
» Srinivas Iyengar’s Life in Ancient India t’n the Age of Mantras, pp. 28-29, p. 41,
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Not only as the materials for arts, industries or as • measures of value/
but also as having healing powers we find the minerals mentioned in the Vedas.
41 It is of interest to note the alchemical 1 notions which had gathered round
gold and lead at the time of the Atharva Veda. * * While gold is regarded as
the elixir of life, lead is looked upon as the dispeller of sorcery/* 44 According,
to Roscoe and Schorlemner, the ancient Hindus were the first to discover gold.
All the appellations that have been applied to gold by different peoples of the
ancient world bear testimony to this statement. * * According to Roscoe and
Schorlemner,* the different nations gained their knowledge of extracting iron
from its ores from the Hindus.”
II. Ayurvedic Literature* (from the Pre-Buddhistic era to 8oo A.D.)
(1) The Charaka Samhitd , based on the medical treatise of Agnivesa,
mentioned in pre-Buddhistic literature, indicates 44 the six metals 4 and their
calces as drugs appertaining to the earth/’ discusses the nature of the alkali,
treats of the five kinds of salts, mentions sulphates of copper and iron as
minerals for external application, and describes iron, gold and silver tonics.
(2) The Susrula Sant hit a* later than the Charaka , par excellence
a treatise on surgery, treats of the preparation and use of alkalies and alkaline
caustics, recommends the six metals and their calces as drugs in • only one
dloka/ has ‘vague references* to mercury, and describes lead and tin as
vermifuge.
(3) The Bower MS .,• a medical work attributed to one Susruta, copied
within the period from 400 to 500 A.D., mentions sulphates of copper and iron
as ingredients for hair-dye and considers Bitumen as a product from the follow¬
ing four metals : gold, copper, silver, iron.
(4) The Agtdnga hridaya of Vagbhata (probably a Buddhist of Sindh,
8th cent. A.D., but according to Dr. Kunte, of the 1st or 2nd cent. B.C.), ‘the
heart or kernel of the eight limbs or divisions of Ayurveda/ is mainly an
epitome of the Charaka and the Susruta t mentions mercury only once and treats
of the preparations of gold, silver, copper, iron and lead.
1 History of Hindu Chemistry , Vol. I, First Edition, pp. vi, vii. ~
* Quoted from Major B. D. Basil’s Prize-Essay on the Hindu System of Medicine pub¬
lished in Guy’s Hospital Qasette (1889).
* See the Preface to Dr. Dutt’s Materia Medica of the Hindus for the medico-chemical
(mineralogical) literature of this period, also references to original authorities in the
body of the book.
4 Quoted by Dr. RAy from A. 0. Kaviratna’s Translation of Charaka Samhitd, pp. 0-7.
* See the Bengali translation by Kavir&j Devendran&th Sen (1900), p. 208, where
seven metals have been mentioned, the additional one being bell-metal, and ranga is used
for vanga, i.e., trapu (tin).
4 Edited by Dr. Hoernle, published by the Superintendent of Government Printing,
Calcutta (1898-1909). See Part II, Fasciculus II, pp. 102-104. The drugs recommended
are mainly vegetable. For references to metals, gold, copper, &o., and gems, see General
English Index,
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(5) During this period also must be mentioned the vast mass of Hindu,
Jaina and Buddhistic literature in Sanskrit and Pr&krit, which embodies the
original and characteristic products of Indian intellect, and in which are mirrored
the brightest epochs in the history of Indian culture. This is the period 1 of
Indian history properly so called, as it covers roughly the interval.between the
age of precursors of Pagini* and Buddha and the epoch of Harsavardhana and
Houen Tsang,—the last prominent landmark of Hindu civilisation,—or if we
push this limit further down, the age of the Palas of Bengal and the Cholas
of the South in the 8th and 9th centuries A.D.
Dr. Dutt's Materia Medica does not, from the nature of the subject, refer to
any authorities other than medical. Dr. P. C Ray’s work also is silent about the
non-Ayurvedic branches of Indian literature during this period of over 1,600
years regarding the light they throw on alchemy, medicinal preparations,
metallurgical operations, technical arts, the use of coins, arms and implements,
&c # , and the theory and practice of the transmutation of metals.
It is impossible to collect alt the information on the subject of metals that
this non-medieal literature in Sanskrit and Prakrit may yield. Dr. Gustav
Oppert's Essay on the weapons and war implements of the Ancient Hindus, and
Dr. Rajendralal Mitra's essay on Architecture, Dress and Ornament in ancient
India, Furniture, Domestic Utensils, Musical instruments, Arms, &c., in ancient
India in the first volume of his Indo-Aryans, as well as the historical works on
Indian Art (including Architecture, Sculpture and Painting) by Fergusson,
Havell, Coom&raswamy, Vincent Smith, and Manomohau Ganguly casually
bring before us stray evidences from the literature and secular achieve¬
ments of this period. The following evidence of Mr. Schofi, in his edition of
the Periplus , published with the object of throwing light on ancient Commercial
Geography and History, tells its own tale: “ Philostratus of Lemnos, about
230 A.D., mentions a shrine in Taxila in which were hung pictures on copper
tablets representing the feats of Alexander and Porus. The various figures
were portrayed in a mosaic of orichalcum, silver, gold, and oxidized copper,
but the weapons in iron. The metals were so ingeniously worked into one
another that the pictures which they formed were comparable to the pro¬
ductions of the most famous Greek artists.”
1 This has been subsequently (p. 74) called the Classical Period —Pro-Buddhistic,
Buddhistic as well as Post-Buddhistic—the age of Darsanas, Parinas, Kivyas, Ac. For a
brief account of the literature of this period, see Sir Bhandarkar's paper in the Journal of
the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1900, pp. 888-408.
* The date of Panini is still an open question. The nearest limit is that placed by
Macdonell at about 850 B.C. Max MAUer could not arrive at any decision. About a year
before his death, this European savant wrote to Rai Bahadur Sris Chandra Basu, the
learned translator of the Aft&dhyayi of Panini: “ Even Panini’s date is still a riddle to me,
both as to his predecessor* and his successors. The date now assigned to him in the
4th cent. B.C. is useful as a working hypothesis, but no more. Perhaps you may be able
to throw more light on it,”
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III. Tantric Literature (from 800-1*00 A.D.)
This is the period of the Empire 1 of the Palas in East India and Cholas
in South India. The characteristic features of this period, so far as Northern
India is concerned, are;
(1) in socio-religious life, the further development of Mahayfinic Buddhism,
the continuation of the processes of the merging of decadent Buddhism
in revived Hinduism, and the completion of the amalgamation* of the
mythology of ^aiva-cum-^aktaism with the doctrinal, devotional, and ritualistic
machinery of the neo-Buddhistic Theogony, Cosmogony, and Theology ;
and (2) in literature, the continuation of Puranas, and the ascendancy
of Tantras , which, beginning in the early centuries of the Christian era (if not
earlier) as hand-books of Hindu socio-religious life, gradually tinged, modi¬
fied, and swallowed up tlje literature of the Hinduised Buddhists of the
Mahayanic school, and finally absorbed (during this period) the whole in¬
tellectual activity of £he people in philosophy, religion, alchemy, and other
departments of humau thought. The Tantras' may in a sens be looked upon
as the Pur&nas or Encyclopaedia lndicas of India on the eve of Islamisation.
The mineralogical literature of this period includes the following:—
(1) The works of Nagarjuna (7th-8th cent. A.D?), the founder and
embodiment of Mahayanism, and the author of alchemical Tantras.
(a) Rasdrnava gives the tests of a pure metal, treats of the extraction
of Zinc from Calamine, mentions the six metals, treats of the colouring of
metals, and describes an apparatus for killing metals.
(b) Rasaratndkara' treats of the purification of minerals, the extraction
of Zinc from Calamine, dissolution of gems, and mentions several apparatus.
(2) Vrinda’s Siddhayoga (900 A.D.) mentions Nagarjuna as an authority,
and closely follows Charaka, Susruta, and Vagbhata, describes preparations
1 See Mr. R. D. Banerji’s Memoir on the Palas of Bengal (L. A. S. B.), and Qaudar&ja-
mdla f a Bengali work, by Mr. Ram&pras&d Chanda; and Ancient India by Mr. Krishnaswamy
Aiyangar. Dr. Rfty calls this> the Transitional Period.
7 A lull survey of this aspect of Bast Indian civilisation has been given in A dyer
Oambhird, a learned Bengali work by Mr. Harid&sa Pdlit. Portions of Mr. Pa lit's work are
being rendered into English as materials for my forthcoming Studies in Hindu Literature ,
South Indian life of this period is characterised by the rise of two new cults, Saivaisin
and Vaisnavism militating against and assimilating decadent Buddhism.
* For this second feature of the period between 800 and 1200 A.D., see Dr. Rfiy’s
resume of authoritative opinions in the first chapter of his Introduction to Hindu Chemis -
tin/ Yol. II: “ Alchemy was included in the curricula of studies ” “ at the colleges in
connexion with the monasteries of PAtaliputra, NAlandA, VikramasilA, Udandapura, &c.,”
in East India from 5th to 12th cent. A.D. Tamil literature has yet to be studied in the same
light.
4 The enumeration of these Tantras and other alchemical works has been made in
this book in an order slightly different from that in the History of Hindu Chemistry , as
suggested by the new light thrown in Dr. Rfiy's Introduction to the 2nd volume.
The division into periods of mineralogical literature has also been modified in this
book to suit its requirements. Dr. R&y’s division into Tantric and Iatro-chemical periods
in the 1st Edition of the First Volume was certainly a tentative one.
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in which Sulphide of Copper and iEthiops mineral figure and also a process
of killing iron.
(3) Chakrapani 1 Datta’s medical treatise (1050 A.D.), written at Gauda
during the period of the ascendancy of the Palas, liberally recommends com¬
pounds of metals as medicinal drugs, treats of the black sulphide of mercury,
powder of copper compound and a process of killing iron.
(4) Govindabhflgavat’s Rasahridaya (nth century), written at the request
of the king of Kirata land, #>., the region adjoining modern Bhutan, mentions
the six salts, the noble metals, essential metals, &c., and treats of the proper¬
ties of metals.
IV. Modern Literature (13th cent.— 16th cent.)
This is the period :
(1) in politics, of (a) the gradual establishment of Islam as a power and the
foundation of Moghul Imperialism, (b) small independent Hindu kingdoms,
especially the kingdom of Vijayanagara, the “Forgotten Empire ” of the South,
which presented a formidable bulwark against the inroads of the new power,
and (1 c ) the advent of the Portuguese ;•
(2) in socio-religious life, of (a) aggressive Islam accelerating the further
fusion of Hinduism and Buddhism, and calling forth the assimilative and adaptive
capabilities of the people of India, and (b) the rise of new cults in all the
four quarters of India;
and (3) in literature, of (a) the continuation of Purflnas, Tantras and other
Sanskrit works, and of (A) the growth and development of new languages and
literatures embodying the aspirations of Kavira, Nflnaka, Tukarflma, and
Chaitanya— the founders of the new age.
The following Sanskrit works mentioned by Dr. Ray may be placed during
this period 2 $
(1) Rasendra Chu^dmani (12th—13th cent. A.D.) of Somadeva gives tests
for killed iron, treats of the residues from lead and tin, and describes the
apparatuses.
(2) Rasaprakdsasudhdkara of Yasodhara (13th cent.) describes the
extraction of zinc from calamine and a process for the fabrication of gold.
(3) Rasakalpa (13th cent.) describes the six metals, minerals and the
processes of killing them. The author says, 41 1 have performed the experi¬
ments with my own hands, and have seen them with my own eyes. They
are not recorded from mere hearsay or from the dictation of a teacher/*
(4) Rasa Sdra (13th cent.) of Govinda acknowledges its indebtedness
1 Sanskrit Text edited by Eavirijas Sen (Calcutta).
* u The political influence of the Portuguese as early as 168S A.D. is evident from
the fact that 8ultan Bahadur, King of Gujrat, entered into a treaty with them/* _ Memoir 9
of Hin&usthan.
• The sub-divisions of this epoch into Tantric and modern according to the Bistory
of Hindu Chemistry have not been adopted here. The treatises also have been slightly
rearranged. Vernacular Literature of these four centuries remains yet to be ransaked
for a more complete picture of the secular life of the Hindus.
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to the Buddhists of Tibet, is a comprehensive, but purely chemical work
dealing with 18 operations on Mercury.
(5) Rasaratna-Samuchchaya 1 (13th—14th cent.) contains elaborate treat¬
ment of mercury, copper, pyrites, extraction of zinc and copper, sulphur,
cowries, gems, processes of reducing gems to ashes, the pure metals, the metals
which emit a foetid odour, and alloys, the laboratory and the accessories.
(6) Rasardjalak$mi (14th cent.) of Visnudeva, court physician to King
Bukka of Vijayanagara, mentions the common mineral salts.
(7) Rasanak^atramdlikd (14th cent.) of Mathana Simha, court physician to
the king of Malwa, liberally recommends mineral* preparations and mentions
opium as a drug.
(8) Rasaratndkara (14th cent.) of Nityandtha quotes Nag&rjuna, Chakra-
pftni, and Rasendrachu^ama n%.
(9) Sdrngadhara-Samgraha (1363 A.D.), written at Chitor under the
Chauhans, treats of the purification and*incineration of seven * metals, but does
not mention zinc, has been quoted by Bh&va Misra.
(10) Dhdturatnamdld (14th cent,), by Devadatta of Gujrat'is devoted
exclusively to short processes of killing metals and minerals. Six metals are
recognised at the outset, but later on Kharpara* which is the mineral calamine,
is taken as synonymous with jasada or zinc.”
(11) Nighantu* by king Madanapala of Kanauj (1374), mentions the
metals as drugs, among which there is zinc or jasada.
(12) Rasapradipa (16th cent.) describes a detailed process for the prepar¬
ation of mineral acids and mentions the remedy for the Portuguese disease
called Syphilis (Phiringiroga), is quoted by Bh&va Misra.
(13) Dhdtukriyd (16th cent.) mentions the country of the Phiringis as
well as Ruma (Constantinople), enumerates the metals, gives their synonyms
and localities, mentions zinc, and speaks of * imitation gold,* by which one
can enrich oneself.
(14) Bhdvaprakdia 1 (after 1535, about 1570 according to Dr. Wise)
mentions new drugs, and the Phiringiroga, and recommends mineral preparations
as drugs, greatly eclipsing the vegetable.
(15) Rdjanighantu 6 (17th cent.) of Narahari Pandit, has a chapter called
Suvarnddivarga , and mentions the minerals, treating of their medicinal effects.
1 See the Text published by the AnandAsrama Office, Poona (1901), pp. 33-84, or the
Extracts In Dr. RAy’s Hindu Chemistry , Vol. I.
2 « From the time of the Susruta to that of the Rasaratna-Samuchchaya we find
all along six metals. * ♦ * In the medical lexicon ascribed to king MadanApAla and
written about 1874 AJ)., Zinc is distinctly recognised as a metal under the desig¬
nation of Jasada.” Hindu Chemistry, Vol. I, First Edition, p. 80. Sukranfti mentions
seven metals and two alloys.
• “ Zinc is not mentioned by the older writers, such as Susruta’*—Dr. Dutt. See the
chapter on Zinc in his Materia Medica.
4 See the Edition of Pandit JivAnanda VidyAsAgara (1875), pp. 60-60, Chapter IV.
4 See Dr. Dutt's Preface to his Materia Medica (1877).
* See the Hindi Edition (1888) published from Benares, pp. 139-141
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Section 5.
History of Hindu Mineralogy.
(b) Literature on Gems.
The preceding survey, though scrappy and inadequate, must have made
it clear that the Hindu literature on metals has grown mainly round the
practical arts connected with industry, medicine and alchemy. The literature
on precious stones also has developed through the same circumstances, and
has had a similar history . 1 It is to one or other of the several epochs in the
growth of this metallurgical, medicinal, and alchemical literature on gems that
the portions of Sukranili dealing with these topics have to be referred. We,
therefore, proceed to give a brief history of this literature.
The knowledge of the use of gems has, like that of the metals, been
discovered in almost all the branches of Hindu literature, and, therefore, may
be conveniently grouped for historical purposes under the same epochs as
those for metals. Besides the treatises mentioned above which are common
to both metals and gems, there are special treatises which have to be noticed
here in connexion with gems. The chief difficulty in the classification into
epochs lies, as always in Indian historical problems, in chronology. The
dates have been in most cases conjectural.
We have noted above that Dr. Tagore’s encyclopaedic work on gems
has drawn upon sixty-four Sanskrit treatises. Dr. RdmdAsa Sen’s work
in collaboration with Pandit Kalivara Ved&ntav&gisa is based on Brihat
Samhitd, Mdniparik$a , Sukranili , Mdnasolldsa , Amaraviveka, Hemchandra-
kosa, Mukldvali, Rdjanighantu , Agnipurdna, Garu$apurdna t Agastyamatam ,
and Ratna-Samgraha . Another important work on the subject is Yukti Kal-
pataru 9 t which is in manuscript, but has been used by Prof. Yogesh Chandra
Roy in his Ratnaparikfd .
Fully conscious of the chronological defects, we add here a short history
of the literature on gems in the Indian world :
I. Vedic Period
Precious stones and jewels are mentioned in Vedic literature. M Maqi is
the name in the Rigveda* and later of a jewel used as an amulet against all
kinds of evil. That either pearl or diamond is denoted is not clear. * * The Magi
is certainly worn round the neck.” 11 In the Brahmaqa of the old recension of
1 The meagreness of this summary would be evident from the facts that (1) it has not
been possible to gather information from even the most important works of non-Ayurvfedic
Sanskrit literature; (ii) ancient Tamil literature has been wholly excluded, and (Hi) old
PrAkrit and vernacular works also have not been touched.
* Like the Brihat 8amhitd of Varfthamihira (0th cent. A:I>.), this work ascribed to RAJA
Bhoja (probably 11th cent.) Is a valuable repository of information regarding things
Indian. One manuscript of this work belonging to MaliAmahopAdhyAya Pandit AdityarAma
BhattAchAryya , M.A. of Allahabad is in the library of the Panini Office and is being edited
with translation and notes for the Sacred Books of the Hindus 8cries by the present author.
* Maodonell and Keith’s Vedic Index , vol. II. pp. 119-120. See also pp. 004, 000.
10
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the Yajurveda jewellery 1 is recommended to be strung on gold.” The
Atharva-Veda in Harvard Oriental Series bears the following testimony :
“The bit of Hindu folk-lore about the origin of pearls by transformation of
rain-drops falling into the sea * * * * is at least ten centuries old. Born in
the sky, ocean-born, brought hither out of the river, this gold-born shell* is
for us a life-prolonging amulet.”
11 . Classical Period* (800 B.C.— 800 A.D.)
1. Charaka mentions gems as drugs appertaining to the earth, and gives a
formula of * the powder of pearl * compound.
*. Susruta * mentions pearls, vidruma, diamond, vaiduryya, spliatika
(quartz) and other’ gems as cool and being antidotes to poison and useful in
oculaf diseases.
3. The Epics and Purflqas refer to precious stones as ornaments for
buildings, palaces, and images. The court of Yudhisthira, the cities of Dwflrakfl
and Ayodhyfl, the chariots, umbrellas, temples, &c., all testify to the use of
emeralds, beryls, rubies, &c. We also read of gifts made in diamonds, pearls,
corals and rubies, and also of plants, cows and hills made of gems. 1 The
Mahflbhflrata has often referred to vaiduryya , vidruma , sphalika , suryya-
kdnta , chandrakdnla , indrantla, padmardga f diamond and marakata .
4. Brihal Samhitd 9 of Varahamihira (505-587 A.D.) has four chapters
on the examination of gems, refers to many previous Ratnasdstras , describes
the characteristics of 2a gems, considers five of them only to be principal, begins
the section on diamonds thus; * A good gem brings prosperity to the king, and
a bad one brings misery. It is, therefore, necessary to examine the properties
of gems with the help of persons learned in the science.”
1 Mitra’s I tt do-Aryans , Yol, I, p. 289.
* Atharva-Veda in Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. I, pp. 181-182.
• This would include some of the Upani^ads, the systems of»philosophy, the epics, the
literature of the precursors of Charaka and P&nini as medical men and grammarians, the
literature of Buddhism, both Hinay&na and Mah&y&na, the K&vyas and other products of
Vikramadltyan era, the more important Pur&nas, and some of the Tantras. See the volumes
on the History of Sanskrit Literature by Max Mtiller, Macdonell, Weber, and Horrwitz.
Max Miiller's volume was long out of print, but has been recently published by the Panin!
Office, Allahabad. See also the paper on the Character and Origin of the Ptiranas by Mr.
B. C. Mazumdar in the Modem Review (Calcutta), Yol. XI, pp. 72*79, and the Dynasties of
the Kali Yuga by Pargiter (Oxford University Press, 1918).
4 See p. 288 of the Bengali translation of Susmta by Kaviraja Devendra Nath 8en.
* Prof. Yoges Chandra Roy’s Bengali work as well as Tagore’s Manim&ld.
• See Chidambram Iyer’s Brihat Samhitd (1884), pp. 184-174. This work introduces
us to the meteorological, agricultural, zoological, architectural,' medicinal and astronomi¬
cal ideas of the Hindus in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D, and “ is one huge attempt to
interpret the language of nature and ascertain its bearing on the fortunes of men and
nations." Those who are interested in the influence of Geography on History .will find this
ancient Hindu scientist partially anticipating Bodin, Montesquieu, Hegel, Buckle and
Bagehot by full one thousand years.
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III. Pala-Chola or Tantric Period (800-1200 A.D.)
1. Rasaralnakara 1 of Nag&rjuna (8th cent.), the Mah&yanist, treats of
the extraction of the essence of vaikrauta, dissolution of gems (pearls, &c.) t
killing o£.diamond.
2. Agnipur&na (9th cent.) testifies to Tantric influence, treats of the
examination of gems, enumerates 36 precious stones, describes 8 only as
Mahdratnas.
3. Garudapurana (9th cent.) testifies to Tantric influence, also treats of
the examination of gems and enumerates them, mentions Turkey, considers
12 gems as principal, discusses the features to be noticed in a gem before
estimating value.
4. Agastyamatam (later than Garuda, but previous to VisQudharmottara)
mentions Arab and Turkey, enumerates ten gems, recommends the use of nine
gems for the propitiation of nine planets, is quoted in Yukti Kalpalaru , mentions
pushparaga, vaiduryya, gomeda, sphatika (quartz), and pravala as five uparatnas
or inferior gems, notices the aspects to be noted in a good gem.
5. Visnudharmottarapurdna (10th cent.), really a part of Garudapurapa,
bases its enumeration of precious stones on the Agmpur&na and examinations
of them on the Garuda , mentions nine gems* as maharatna.
6. Jyotisaratnamdld of Sripati, the astronomer (10th cent.), enumerates the
same nine gems as sacred to the nine planets that are mentioned in Sukranlti.
7. Matsyapurana describes a huge lake with diverse gems, in its 128th
chapter.
8. Yukti Kalpalaru (nth cent.) quotes Garudapurana and Visnudharmot-
tarapurana as authorities, is similar to Agastyamatam in certain particulars
regarding the examination of gems, gives technical terms used in Ratna
Sdstra, treats of “ horses, elephants, ornaments, flags, umbrellas, seats, ministers,
ships," etc,, besides jewels, and frequently quotes from an author of the
name of Bhoja, mentions mdqikya, vajra, vidruma, gomeda, mukta, vaidurryya,
indrantla and marakata as the eight principal gems.
9. Ratnasangraha'oi Maharsi Simha(iath cent.) consists of only 21 slokas,
but gives a brief description of all the gems, refers to the prosperity of YdVanas,
does not mention vidruma.
1 Dr. RAy’s Hindu Chemistry , Vol. II, pp. 8-9.
* According to Sukraniti the Mahftratoas are nine in number. About nine gems as
favourites of nine planets, see aloka 21 of AdhyAya 1 of Jdtakn P&rij&ta , translated by
Subrahmaniya Sftstri and printed at Nirnaya Si gar Press, Bombay (1998), p. 14.
• Edited and published by Dr. Sen together with his Bengali monograph on precious
stones.
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IV. Modern Period (1200-1600 A.D.)
1. Rasara-tnasamuchchaya (13th-14th cent.?) mentions vaikr&nta, 1 enumer¬
ates 27 sages skilled in alchemy, among whom Vy&di* is one, enumerates and
describes the gems as agencies which help the fixation or coagulation of
mercury, treats of the process of reducing gems to ashes.
2. Dhdturatnatnald (14th cent.) treats of the properties of pearls, coral,
diamond, and the modes of their incineration.
3. Nighantu of Madanapfila (14th cent.) has a few verses about gems also.
4. Dhdtukriyd (16th cent.) gives the synonyms of pearls, coral, etc.
5. Bh&vapraMia (16th cent.) also refers to gems, discusses their effects
as drugs, enumerates several new uparatnas or inferior gems.
6. Rdjanighantu (17th cent.) recommends the use of gems for the
propitiation of planetary deities*, indicates Tantric influence, and treats of their
medicinal effects.
From the foregoing history of mineralogical literature of the Hindus ex¬
tending over 2,500 years, it: would have been evident that there are two features
which characterise it s—
(1) that it is a record of continuous growth : Indian mineralogical litera¬
ture does not present the case of an arrested development but has grown from
epoch to epoch, utilising and assimilating the new conditions 4 according to
the changes in the cultural environment of the country, and displaying novel
features according to the altered circumstances of the times.
(2) that, like every other branch of Hindu culture, it has been built up
by the joint and cumulative effort of the people of the whole of India : Punjab,
Gujr&t, Rajput Ana, Madhyadesa, Bengal, Mahfir&stra and D&ksigfitya. Each
quarter has contributed to the growth and development of Indian mineralogical
literature, according to its opportunities, by supplying either 1 great masters*
or commentators as the need arose. Thus among the heroes of Hindu medicine
and mineralogy, Charaka belongs to the Punjab, Susruta is claimed by Punjab
as well as Benares, V&gbhata belongs to Sindh (Western India), Vrinda to the
Deccan, Narahari Pandit is claimed by Kashmir, but belongs probably to Mahfi-
r&stra, Chakrapfipi to Gauda (Bengal), Sfirangadhara to Rdjput&nfi, Visqudeva
to Vijayanagara, Devadatta to Gujrfit, Madanapfila to Kanauj, Mathanasinha to
Malwa, and Bhfivamisra to some part of Madhyadeia (tie. the U. P.).
1 Prof. Toges Chandra considers this to be the first mention of vaikrAnta. Bat the dis¬
covery of NAgArj una’s RasaratnAkara, has pointed to it some four or five centuries earlier.
a This VyAdi has been mentioned in GarudapurAna as specialist in detecting artificial
pearls.
* Bee the Hindi Edition (1888), p. 189-142, Published from Benares.
4 For the * original ’ features in the successive works of the so-called commentators,
see the account of Sanskrit medical treatises in KavirAja BirajAcharana Gupta's Bengali
work, Vamujadhidarpana (Auddy Co, Calcutta, 1908), pp. 80, 88, 84, 85, 88. In this the
author has presented a learned treatment of the History of Hindu medical literature, and
has discussed the questions of priority, interpolations, &c., by reference to original texts.
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Section 6.
General remarks on Metallurgy 1 in Hindu lije and thought
We shall first mention all the references in Sukran\ti bearing on the
subject of metals, whether (i) as indicating metallurgical, alchemical, medicinal
or artistic and commercial uses made of them by the ancient Hindus or (a)
as indicating their theoretical or scientific knowledge about the diverse pro¬
perties of metals and their uses in society. A study of these references will
give us (i) an estimate of certain aspects of the material civilisation of the
Hindus, (a) an idea of the geographical influences in which portions of the
work might have been composed, and (3) incidentally enable us to determine
the age of certain parts by comparison with the other works on the subject, as
described in the preceding section.
It may be remarked here that the “ distribution ” of the mines, metals,
stones and gems mentioned in Sukraniti covers practically a chapter of the
whole Economic Geology of Ancient and Mediaeval India. The Himalayan
regions, Burma, Rajputana, the Deccan and the Indian oceau are the principal
localities from which the minerals were derived in those days. Some of these
regions have been identified, others not. It would appear that commercial in¬
tercourse was sufficiently active in promoting the formation of all-India 4 markets,’
or rather 44 world-markets” for the valuables. It is therefore very difficult to
give a ’local’ character to the mining and allied topics referred to in
Sukraniti.
Extent and Importance .
On this subject of mining* in ancient India, the Arthas&stra of Kautilya
is a fuller and more definite document than the work of SukrAcb&ryya. The
economic and financial condition of the Maurya times (4th —3rd cent. B.C.)
is vividly mirrored forth in this treatise. 44 According to it, there were two
classes of mines, vis. (1) ocean-mines and (2) land-mines. * * * The duty
of the Superintendent of ocean-mines was to look after the collection of
diamonds, and other precious stones, pearls, corals, &c. * * * The Superin¬
tendent of land-mines had to perform the difficult work of prospecting and
discovering new mines on plains and mountain slopes. * * * Silver ores are
those which have the colour of sankha and do not emit much foam and smoke.
Similarly, we find mentioned the properties of the ores of gold, bitumen, copper,
lead, tin, iron, &c. * * * The Brahmana who has committed heinous offence
* • • may be condemned to the mines.”
The fables and fairy legends* in which gold, silver and precious stones
play an important part also tell their own tale. In the appendix to his
' Bird wood's Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878, pp. 20-88 (2nd Edition).
* See the paper on Some Glimpses of India in the age of Chandragupta by Mr. Narendra
Nath Law, M.A., RL^ in the Modem Review for April, 1811.
* See also Lalbehari Day’s Folk Tales of Bengal (MacMillan & Oo.) and Shaikh Chilli’s
Folk Tales of Hindusthan (Panini;Office, Allahabad) for the stories, respectively, regarding
the origin of rabies, and of the Seven Goldsmiths.
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Indian Mythology 1 Mr. Fausboll remarks In all cases the greater part of
the Folk-Tales, both on the whole and in many separate characteristics, point
back to India* as the land of their birth. * * * And when the old Greek
authors Herodotus, Ktesias, Strabo and jElian speak of gold-digging ants
• • • it is evident that these tales are only a reflection of the imaginative mind
of India. Some of the principal elements in the fables are gold, silver and
precious stones. * • • In India we read of serpents (ndga, sarpa) in ant
hills full of gold (Panchatantra III, 5 t io) t of golden hamsas (Panchatantra
III, 6, Jataka Nr. 136), of the Naga who makes a present of jewels to the king
who saved its life (Jataka Nr. 386), of the princess who will only marry one
who has seen the golden city (Kathasarit Sagara V, 24), of the golden lotuses
(K. S. S. V, 25), of diva’s garden, of golden trees with branches of jewels
and flowers and with clusters of pearls (K. S. S. IX, 52), and so forth.
How does it happen that precious metals and minerals play so important
a part in India's tales (and therefore also in those originating from there) ?
The simple reason is because India has always been richly endowed with the
same.
An early proof of this fact we gather from the records of the ancient
Greeks. Thus whilst Megasthenes relates that, whilst the land on its surface
bears all kinds of cultivated fruits, it has underneath numerous veins of all
sorts of metals, for it is in possession of much gold and silver, and not a little
copper and iron, yea, even tin and other metals which are used in the manufac¬
ture of useful articles and ornaments, as well as implements of war. He
further says that Taprobane (Ceylon) produces more gold and more large
pearls than the continent of India, and people’s raiment is interwoven with
gold and ornamented with gems. 8 * * • Another proof is the numbers of
mines still being worked in India. According to Constable’s Hand Atlas of India
there are about 59 gold mines, 14 silver mines, 34 diamond mines, besides 105
iron, 55 copper and 21 lead-mines. The great conquerors whose desire it was
to reach India also give evidence of this. * • *
Considering these things, can we wonder that we in India And a God of
Riches (Kuvera), a god for those riches that grow in the mountain and not
those that grow in the fields ?
Precious stones and metals have also left their indelible marks on the
Tamil classics of the Augustan age which, according to Mr. Aiyangar, should be
placed in the 2nd century A.D. Two celebrated classics, the Silappadhi-K&ram
(epic of the Anklet) and Manintekhalai (Jewel-belt), which incidentally bring
before us a vivid picture of the political, religious, educational, economic
and social life of the early Cholas, derive their titles, dramatis persona ,
scenes and incidents from the morals and manners of people dealing
in gold, rubies and jewels.
1 Luzac and Co., London, 1903, pp. 189-98.
* Benfey’s Translation of Panchatantra.
* See footnote on p. 192 of Indian Mythology ,
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The author of the History of Indian Shipping quotes the following from
u A geologist’s contribution to the History of Ancient India” by Prof. Ball in
the Indian Antiquary for August 1884: “Even in the Mosaic Period (1491-50
B.C.) precious stones which were to a great extent a speciality of India appear to
have been well known.” Prof. Ball also rejects the view b«ld by Lassen, Heeren
and others that gold (and silver) was not indigenous to India but was imported
from abroad, e.g . 9 Tibet, Burma, and Africa.
The following evidence given by Mookerji derived from Seal’s The Chemical
Theories of the Ancient Hindus gives & bright picture of the economic mineralogy
of Hindu India: 41 Broadly speaking, there were three great discoveries in applied
chemistry to which India owed her capture of the world-markets: (1) the pre¬
paration of fast dyes for textile fabrics by the treatment of natural dyes like-
manjistha with alum and other chemicals ; (2) the extraction of the principle of
indigotin from the indigo plant by a process, which, however crude, is essentially
au anticipation of modern chemical methods ; and (3) the tempering of steel
in a manner worthy of advanced metallurgy, a process to which the mediaeval
world owed its Damascus Swords.”
Ornaments.
According to authors of the Sukra cycle, as to all Hindu writers, the
Earth is full of wealth, 1 * * and Kuvera* is the deity presiding over it. They
appreciate Kuverata * or the possession of wealth more than many other
qualifications, though, of course, it is inferior to Ikata or over-lordship, i.e. t
sovereignty. They would therefore enjoy the good things of this world and
advise others to do it.
According to them ornaments constitute some of the important valuables 4
of the state, and the ruler should appoint females to look after them. These are
some of the items among the gifts* of the king to his officers, and we are told
that the good servant* is satisfied with those that he receives and does not
hanker after things not given. The love of ornaments among Sukra's country¬
men is also indicated by the frequent metaphorical 1 uses of the term in
Sukranlti. Thus 11 the ornament, the kingdom, strength, learning, or wealth
does not adorn a man so much as courtesy and gentleness. Speed in horses,
splendour in jewels, mercy in kings, blandishments in prostitutes, sweet voice in
singers, charity in rich men, prowess in soldiers, abundance of milk in cows,
restraint in ascetics, eloquence in learned men, impartiality in councillors,
truthfulness in witnesses, devotion in servants, good counsels in ministers,
silence in fools, faithfulness in wives, are the proper ornaments.”
Three uses of ornaments have been mentioned in the treatise:—(1) as
valuables of the treasury and as marks of honour conferred on office-bearers,
as we have just noted, (2) as decorations for the person of females 41 The
woman should put on clothes, ornaments, jewels given* by the father-in-law,
1 Sukra I, 349-350, 357-358.
* Sukra 1,151,100, 301-302
» Sukra IV, iii, 4-5.
4 Sukra 1,708-704.
* Sukra II, 840-848.
4 Sukra II, 12.
f Sukra III, 201-202,471-470.
• Sukra IV, iv, 21-22.
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taothei-in-jaw, husband, parents, brothers, uncles and relatives (3) for
adorning images of the rdjasika 1 type. That ornaments are important items
in the material life of the people is likewise shown by .the distinct recognition
of the social offence committed by those who use others’ clothes, ornaments*
gold, &c.
The following is taken from RajendralAl's Indo-Aryans M In the Nirukta
of Y&ska and the grammar of Pag ini not only ornaments, but names of various
kinds of them are enumerated, and Manu defines the nature and duties of the caste
whose special vocation was to manufacture them, and the punishment meet For
fraudulent adulteration of gold. The old vocabulary of Amarasinha gives names
for crowns, crests, and tiaras for the head, of rings, flowers and bosses for the
ears; of necklaces of one to a hundred rows, and of various shapes and patterns ;
of armlets and bracelets ; of signet and other rings for the fingers ; of zones and
girdles for the waist of both men and women ; as also of ornaments of bells,
bands and chains for the legs and ankle.” The sculptures of Bhuvaneswara and
the bas-reliefs of S&nchi and Amaravati exhibit specimens of a great variety of
ornaments which have been described with illustrations by R&jendral&l.
The countrymen of SukrAchAryya are thus neither barbarous people
who do not understand the importance of valuable commodities and who have
not the eesthetic sense to appreciate them as materials for decorative and
utilitarian arts. Nor are they the Utopians who set no store by precious
metals, but employ gold and silver for their vessels of baser use. We know
that the Utopia or 1 Nowhere* of Sir Thomas More is peopled by men among
whom the wearing of gold is a reproach and where fetters of bondmen are
made out of it. ” Gold and silver, whereof money is made they do so use
as none of them doth more esteem it than the very nature of the thing
deserveth. And then who doth not plainly see how far it is under iron:
as without the which man can no better live than without fire and water.
Whereas to gold and silver nature 9 hath given no use, that we may not well
lack: if that the folly of men had not set it in higher estimation for the rareness’
sake. * * * And these metals, if they should altogether at once be taken
from the Utopians no man there would think that he had lost the worth of one
farthing.”
Ihese are the teachings of the socialistic and the political reformer of
England in the 16th century. But the authors of the Sukra cycle are not
revolutionary idealists running away from the troubles and imperfections of
the existing state of things into an Ideal Republic of nowhere. They are sane
men dealing with the world as it is, and have to recken with the human passions
as they are. They therefore do not taboo wealth and enjoyments from their
scheme of life, but try to regulate them as far as necessary.
1 Sukra IV, iv, 168-164.
• Sukra IV, v, 151-162.
• See the chapter on “ journeying or travelling abroad with diverse other matters
c unning l y reasoned ” in the Utopia of Sir Thomas More (English translation).
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Suhra on Mining and Metallurgy.
In this pursuit of wealth they do not scruple to disembowel the 44 unsunned *
treasures of the underground universe and search its entrails wide and deep.
It is because of this that we have the very old European tradition about the
4 wealth of Ind ’ in the gorgeous east which 14 with richest hand showers on her
kings barbaric pearl and gold . 0 Mining becomes thus one of the occupations of
the people, and the rulers have a right to its yield. Among other functions the
Sumantra 1 or Finance Minister of the state has to study the amount of revenue
realised through mines. This income from the mines is known to be Itara
or other than pdrthiva (/>., terrestrial), according to the Public Finance of the
Sukra statesmen. 41 Duties, fines, royalties on mines,* prices and conten¬
tions, etc., are known to constitute non-terrestrial income according to writers
and specialists.’* The mention of mines* among the regions of Sulka or duty
which is the king’s share from the buyer and the seller points also to the import¬
ance of mining as an item that feeds the Income-schedule of the State Budget.
So we read: “The king should realise from minerals* at the following rates: half
of gold, one-third of silver, one-fourth of copper, one-sixth of iron, tin and
lead, half of gems, half of alkalies; after the expenses have been met.** The
ruler is also advised to appoint miners 1 to their proper works and store by
minerals 4 carefully for emergency or other purposes.
Not only the miners, but goldsmiths, coppersmiths and other metal-workers
as well require patronage and 44 protection ” of the State. 44 The king should
always keep in his kingdom the tools and implements of the metal-workers*
after inspecting them ” and find occupation for 44 those who make lighter
machines, gunpowder, arrows, cannon-balls, and swords, and construct various
tools and implements, arms and weapons, bows and quivers, etc.; those who
prepare ornaments of gold, jewels, etc., builders of chariots, stone-carvers,
blacksmiths, and those who enamel metals .* 4
This enumeration of the industries connected with metallurgy to be en¬
couraged by the king involves also a good deal of legislation on the sub¬
ject. Thus among the laws to be promulgated among the people one is that
14 falsehood must not be practised by anyone with regard to the standard of
* Sukra II, 211-212.
* Sukra II, 071-672. The pdrthiva or terrestrial income accrues from the rights of
sovereignty over lands, rivers, seas, lakes, tanks, wells, Ac.
* Sukra IV, 11,212-218.
4 Sukra IV, ii, 288-285. Here I beg leave to correct my translation on p. 148 of Vol.
XIII, Parts I and II of the Sacred Books of the Hindus Series. Vanga is tin and not
zinc. The words for zinc in 8ukraniti are rangaka and jatada. The reader is requested
to understand these three lines as translated in this section.
4 Sukra II, 404-405.
* Sukra IV, ii, 60-68.
* Sukra IV, iv, 85-87.
8ukra II, 804-898.
U
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weights and measurements, currency, some kinds of metals 1 etc.” So also “ the
man who adulterates* metals deserves double the punishment” State inter¬
vention in' Industry cannot be one-sided. If it is the duty of the ruler to
maintain the artists and artisans and thus “protect” them with work and
wages, it is also his lookout to see that the people should be protected from
them. Hence guardianship of the state must be exercised against the dangers
of false, and counterfeit coinage and the passing off of base metals for genuine
and high class commodities.
An account of the fabrication of imitation-jewellery in Hindu India has been
preserved in the dramatic literature of the ist cent. B. C. In the Troy Cart of
Sudraka a question is raised about the identity of certain ornaments produced
in a court of justice. We quote the following from that play published in
Wilson’s Hindu Theatre :*
"Judge.—Do you know these ornaments ?
Mother .—Have I not said ? They may be different, though like. I cannot
say more ; they may be imitations made by some skilful artist.
Judge .—It is true. Provost, examine them ; they may be different, though
like; the dexterity of the artists is no doubt very great, and they readily
fabricate imitations of ornaments they have once seen, in such a manner that
the difference shall scarcely be discernible.”
The examination of metals as to their genuineness and worth thus becomes
an important function of the state as well as people. The Sukra statesmen know
very weH that metals* may be made to acquire artificial character, and have men¬
tioned the preparation of artificial gold 1 as an art or one of the sixty-four kal&s.
The testing* of minerals must therefore be an important branch of learning
and is referred to as a kata. And the wise men* are those who know how to
determine their value by carefully examining them. One test is given in the
following lines : 11 If two pieces* of a metal—one pure and the other suspected
______ — ~~
• Sukra IV, v, MO. So also Mann advises the king to cause a dishonest goldsmith to
be cut to pieces with razors. IX, 292.
• Wilson’s Hindu Theatre. II, p. 85.
4 Snkra IV, ii, 171-172. where we are told that gems also have .defects, but they are
* natural.' This preparation of artificial metals, however, does not seem to be the trans¬
mutation of 44 base " metals, ej., copper or lead into gold or silver, but the manufacture
of imitation gold or silver, i.e., of substance having their lustre, or tho laying of gold or
silver deposits on copper and other metals. Prof. Voges Chandra Ray proves this in
his Ratua-Parik$a by examining the extracts from Raaaratm-eamuchchaya and Oaruda -
jmrana.
• Sukra IV, iii, 178. This does not refer to the alchemical transmutation of base
metals into gold, but the manufacture of imitation gold.
• Sukra IV, iii, 180.
• Sukra IV, ii, 171-172.
• Sukra IV, ii, 178-179. Specialists would do well to examine the accuracy of this
test to * laboratory.
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as alloy—be successively passed through the same hole, and threads of equal
lengths be drawn out of them and weighed, and if the weights of both are equal,
then the metal 1 is unalloyed, otherwise not.”
We have already referred to some of the industries connected with metal¬
work.* The use and manufacture of seals and emblems have been mentioned
in several places. 9 Thus, “one should put on the clothes; uniforms arid
emblems granted by the king;” “they should put down their seals over it at
the end of the writing“ the king should give to each cultivator the deed of
rent having his own mark (seal). ,, These and other manufactures are sug*
gested also in the enumeration of the ka/ds, e.g ., (i) melting,* powdering,
incineration &c., of metals, (a) the knowledge of the mixtures of metals.and
herbs or medicinal plants, (3) analysis and synthesis of metals, (4) preparation of
alloys, (5) alkalies and salts; (6) cleansing, polishing, (7) dyeing of atone and
metal vessels, {8) making of ornaments, (9) enamelling, (10) preparation of
tools and implements, &c.”
Metals thus occupy a very important place in several aspects of the
secular life of the people as described in Sukranlti. They have a religious
bearing also. For the ” images of gods* are made of sands, .pastes, paints,
enamels, earth, woods, stones and metals,” the strongest being those of metals;
This religious branch of the metal-craft carries with it a very severe res¬
ponsibility. It compels the artist to be very particular about his workman¬
ship and to study the canons of Hindu art, in order to conform to them as closely,
as possible. For, though defects may be allowed in images of a temporary
character, e.g. t those made by painting, drawing, or of sand, earth &c., and in the
natural images of gems and stones picked up in rills and hills, those which are
to be durable must be tested very minutely and must satisfy the condition o(
good Art. Thus we are told that “one should consider the defects of propor¬
tion in images of stones 6 and metals only.” If the sculptor bungle with the
work entrusted to him and do not construct the image according to the
prescribed measurements of the limbs, his wealth and life would bejeopardised
and his misery 1 will daily increase.
Meta/s and stones in minor arts.
We thus see that, besides the important part played in commercial, social, 1
religious, and literary lives of the people of ladia, the metals and gems have had
their influence on Indian art also. Architecture as well as sculpture of Hindu-'
sthan bear abundant testimony to the treatment of dhdtus and ratnas by artists.
—— -——«——---r
1 See also the rule laid down iu Sukraniti about the relation between Weight and
volume. IV, ii, 177.
1 Notice also the references to the manufacturers of badges, sceptres, bridges, eoins,
Ac., Sukrall, 858-885 ; I, 722.
» Snkra II, 490-491; II, 739-740 ; IV, ii, 247.
4 Snkra IV, iii, 145-150,107-108, 179-193.
• Snkra IV, iv, 147-151.
• Snkra IV, iv, 805-309.
» Snkra IV, iv, 157-159.
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in their historical works Fergusson, RajendralAl, Havell, Vincent Smith, and
Manomohan Ganguly have sufficiently noted the manipulation of metals and
gems in Hindu art. The tenth chapter of Vincent Smith's work, that on
Hindu minor arts, deals, among other things, with the following topics relevant to
the points discussed here : (i) coinage, (a) gems, seals and jade, (3) jewellery,
(4) reliquaries and gold images, (5) silver paterae and bowls, (6) copper-vessels.
The use of metals for the fabrication of domestic vessels in Hindu India
is thus described by Dr. R&jendral&l in the paper on Furniture , Domestic Utensils
etc., in Indo-Aryans, Vol. I M The Rig-Veda alludes to golden cups ; The
Sutras and the Mah&bh&rata frequently refer to vessels of other than gold and
clay. Tvftshta, the Vulcan of the Hindu pantheon, was the most celebrated
artificer of metallic arms, but the Ribhus greatly excelled him in the formation
of sacrificial vessels of wood and metal.
In a mediaeval work, the Kdlikd Purdna, plates made of gold, are described
to remove excesses of the three humours, and promote the strength of vision;
those of silver favourable to vision and inimical to bile, but calculated to
increase the secretion of wind and phlegm; those of bronze, agreeable and
intellectual, but favourable to undue excitement of blood and bile; those of
brass, wind-generating, irritating, hot, and heat-and-phlegm-destroying; those
of magnetic iron, most beneficial in overcoming anasarea, jaundice and anaemia.
The Yuktikalpataru recommends that drinking cups for royal personages
should be made of gold, silver, crystal or glass.”
The Periplus describes Muziris, a port on the Arabian coast, whence
Romans used to carry pearl, ivory, diamonds, rubies, topazes, stibium, coral,
flint, glass, brass, arsenic and lead. Mr. Aiyangar in his Ancie)it India quotes
the Tamil classic Ahand-n&ru to prove the flourishing condition of 11 Musiri to
which come the well-rigged ships of the Yavanas.”
Section 7.
The Doctrine of Seven Metals .*
Sukraniti mentions seven metals viz., suvarpa' (gold), rajata (silver), t&mra
(copper), vanga (tin), sisa (lead), rangaka (zinc) and loha (iron) under the name
of dhdtUs ; and two alloys under the name of sankaras t viz., k&msya i.e„ bronze
or bell-metal (which is made of vanga and tAmra) and pittala or brass (which is
made of fomra and ranga).
The names, number, and classes of metals as given in Sukraniti are not,
however, the same as in other works on the subject in Sanskrit literature. The
* Sukra IV, ii, 171-17®. The reader is requested to note the following changes in my
translation of Sukraniti: He may read bell-metal for bronze on page 144 , and should under¬
stand zinc wherever there is tin and tin wherever there is zinc. The word vanga is
generally a term for tin. But in Dh6tukriya of the 10th century ranga is also used to denote
tin. See sloka 12 in Dr. Ray's edition of 8 anskrit Text. That Is perhaps the only use. 80 I
take ranga as the term for zinc (and not tin, as in the Translation). See Prof. Yoges
Chandra’s Ratnaparik^d.
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chemico-medical treatises that treat specially of the minerals are very diverse
in the matter of enumeration, classification and synonyms. Each represents in
fact to a certain extent the cultural characteristics of the place or epoch in which
it was composed.
The word ranfaka 1 which has been taken here as a synonym for zinc has
been used only thrice.* Another word has also been used as a synonym for
r&ngaka or zinc. This is jasadd .* But the terms rangaka and jasada are not
to be met with in older literature, nor is even the substance which is denoted
by these terms mentioned there as one of the metals.
Vedic Period.
In Vedic literature we meet with six or perhaps seven metals : (■) Gold 4
called by the names of Candra, JAtartipa, Suvarqa, H&rita, and Hirapya, (2)
Silver called Rajata, 1 (3) Copper called Loha, 6 (4) Tin called trapu T (5) Iron*
called Ayas, krisqayasa, syAma, (6) Lead called SfsA • Perhaps bronze is also
suggested.
According to Messrs. Macdonell and Keith, the exact metal denot¬
ed by the word ayas when used by itself, as always in the Rigveda, is
uncertain. As favouring the sense of bronze rather than that of iron may be
cited the fact that Agni is called ayo-damstra % (with the teeth of ayas) with
reference to the colour of his flames, and that the car-seat of Mitra and Varuna
is called ayasthuna (with pillars of ayas) at the setting of the sun. Moreover,
in the Vajasaneyi SamhitA ayas is enumerated in a list of six metals: gold
(hiranya), ayas, syAma, lohA, lead (sisa), tin (trapu). Here syAma (swarthy) and
loha (red) must mean iron and copper, respectively • ayas would therefore seem to
mean bronze. In many passages in the Atharvaveda and other books the ayas
is divided into two species—the syAma (iron) and lohita (copper or bronze). In
the Satapatha-BrAhmaga a distinction is drawn between ayas and lohayasa
which may either be a distinction between iron and copper or between copper
and bronze. In one passage of the Atharvaveda 10 the sense of iron seems certain.
Possibly, too, the arrow of the Rigveda which had a tip of ayas was pointed with
iron. Copper, however, is conceivable, and bronze quite likely. The Satapatha-
BrAhmana states that if 11 well-melted ” it is like gold, referring evidently to
bronze.
' For the antiquity of the word and its history see 8u»ruta, Madamp&la and
Dhdtukriyd referred to subsequently.
* Sukra IV, ii, 178-175, 176, 188,144.
* Sukra IV, v, 848-648, 868-859.
4 Max MOUer and Keith’s Vedic Index Vol. 1,254,281,31; 11,459,498,504,505.
* Vedic Index Vol. II, 197.
* Vedic Index Vol. 1,81; II, 284.
* Vedic Index 1,81,826.
* Vedic Index I, 81, 82,151.
* Vedic Index 1,81,452.
10 V. 28,1, see VoL I, p. 272 Harvard Oriental Series.
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The following is taken from Dr. Ray’s History of Hindu Chemistry :*
‘In Vedic literature iron proper seems to be designated krisndyas or the black
metal,* and copper by lohitdyasa or the red metal.
Besides gold and silver, several other metals, e.g. t iron, lead and tin are
mentioned in the white Yajurveda XVIII, 13. In the Chh&ndogya Upanisad
IV, 17, 7, we also read “ As one binds gold by means of lavana (borax), and
silver by means of gold, and tin by means of silver, and lead by means of tin,
and iron by means of lead, and wood by means of iron, and also by means of
leather.”
At least three metals are mentioned in Atharvaveda, 8 used for amulets to
be put on against demons, for long life or for safety. These are gold, lead
and iron.
Vedic literature thus testifies to the antiquity of Hindu metallurgy and to
the varieties of nomenclature used in designating the metals.
Charaka-Susruta.
The Charaka mentions suvarna and five lohds or metals, but does not
name any. 4 Kaviraja Avinds Chandra Kaviratna calls them silver, copper,
lead, tin and iron. It is to be noted that the word dhdtu does not occur here, and
that lohd % . is a generic name for metals, almost like ayas in Vedic literature.
The Susruta 8 mentions six metals under the heading of trapu (tin) order
among the 37 classes of drugs enumerated in Chapter XXXVIII of Sutra?
sthana. These are trapu (tin), s?sd (lead) tamra (copper), rajata (silver), krisna-
loha (iron), and suvarna. But in Chapter LXIV, while treating of the Lavanas,
Susruta mentions 7 metals 7 and describes their properties. The additional
one is kamsya or bell-metal. A new name is also introduced. This is ranga ,
perhaps a synonym or misprint for vanga , which is trapu or tin. But if ranga
be the correct reading, we have here the authority for the use of the term in
the same sense of tin in Madanapdla-nighahtu and Dhdtukriyd, works of the
fourteenth and sixteenth century respectively.
The doctrine of six metals continued .
At least five metals are referred to in Mahabh&rata,® viz., gold, silver,
copper, iron and Kdmsya. Amarakopa , a work not later than the 6th century
1 Yol. I, first edition, p. 83.
* Book 1,16, 35 ; Book Y, 28.
* The Susruta also differentiates iron by the term Krif^aloha (black metal), thongh
copper is known by its proper name tamra.
4 See the Sanskrit text edited by the Kavirajas Devendranath Sen and Upendranath
Sen (1897), p. 7.
* In the section on the Doctrine of Nine Gem*, the two pairs of convertible terms
(I) Dhdtu andloha, and (2) Ratna and manihave been treated historically.
* See p. 181 of the Bengali translation of Sutruta Samhita by Kavirajas Devendranath
Sen and Upendranath Sen (1900).
* See the Bengali translation, p. 968.
* Prof. Yoges Chandra Ray’s Ratnaparikfd (1904), p. 154.
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A.D., mentions gold, silver, copper, kimsya, pittala (brass), iron, tin, mercury
and sauviranjana (stibmte). Pittala or brass is thus at least as old as thersixth
century. It is also mentioned by Varfcharaihira of the same age. The use
of mercury as a drug is also at least as old as Var&hamihira.
The Rasdrnava 1 of N&garjuna (8th cent.) mentions six lohas or metals :
suvarga, rajata, tdmra, ttksna (iron), vanga (tin) and bhujangama (lead). Here
we get tiksga and bhujangama, two new names for substances used since
Vedic times.
The Rasaratndkara of the same author gives new names to the metals.
Thus silver is si/d and tdra, copper is sulva , lead is ndga.
The Rasahridaya ,• a work of the eleventh century, uses ndga for lead,
tiksna for iron, and gives three classes of metals: (i) noble, eg ., gold, and silver,
(2) essential or substantial, eg ., copper, brass (&ra), tiksna and kdnta (varieties
of iron), and (3) those which emit foetid odours, eg. t lead and tin.
The Rasapralcdsasudhdkara of the thirteenth century gives the name -tdra
for silver. The Rasakalpa of the same age mentions six lohas or metals, e.g f
hema (gold), rupya (silver), arka (copper), vanga (tin), ah\ % (lead) and .lauha
(iron). Varta and others are also mentioned as alloys.
The 14th century .
The Rasaratna-samuchchaya of the fourteenth century, which quotes
passages verbatim from Rasargava and other authorities, begins its Fifth
Book that on lohas or metals with the following words: ‘The tuddha or pure,
metals are kanaka (gold), rajata (silver) and loha (iron). The Puti lohas (those
emitting foetid odour) are two, viz. : n&ga (lead) and vanga (tin). The misra
or alloys are three in number, viz. pittala (brass), k&msya (bell-metal), and
varta. The Loha metal is loha or iron, and often conveys different meanings.’
Here we have five metals divided into two classes, and the 3 alloys regarded
as forming a class by themselves. This enumeration, nomenclature and classi¬
fication of metals may be compared with those in Sukranitit thus :—
(1) Loha is the generic name for metal in R. R. S. whereas dhdtu is. the
word for it in Sukra.
(2) Sukra includes rangaka t a new metal among the pure metals and thus
gives the number seven, whereas according to R. R. S. the number is only
five, but six later.
(3) The alloys are two in Sukraniti, but three in R. R. S., including
varlaloha * which is produced from kamsya, copper, pittala, iron and lead and
is thus an alloy of five matals.’
The Rasaratna-samuchchaya often uses ayas for iron, and mentions ttksna
and kdnta as two of its three species. In Book X, 70, it refers to* the six
1 Be© Sanskrit Text edited by Dr. Ray, Vol. II, 89, 90.
■ See Sanskrit Text edited by Dr. Ray, also Hindu Chemistry, Vol. II, p. 11.
* See Dr. Ray's edition of the Sanskrit texts in Hindu Chemistry , Vol. II.
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metals, but mentions only two alloys like Sukraniti, Trapu is the word used
here for vanga or tin.
The S&rangadhara 1 of the same age recognises seven metals, though it
does not mention zinc, but later names nine metals including two alloys, brass
and bell-metal, after the nine planets.
The fourth chapter named Suvarnavarga of Madanap&la-nighantu ,
another work of the 14th century, however, mentions suvarga, rupya, tfimra,
k&msya, pittala, ranga or vanga, jasada (zinc), stsa, lohfi (iron), sulphur,
mercury, gems, etc. It gives the synonyms of these metals also, and treats
of their properties. It is to be noted that ranga, vanga and trapu are used as
synonyms to indicate tin ; and jasada is described as being 1 ranga-sadrisa * ue. t
like ranga or vanga.
Madapapfila and Sukra thus agree in almost all particulars. Both mention
the same nine metals. Madanapfila does not classify them, and enumerates
some more, e.g ., sulphur, mercury, abhra, etc., while Sukraniti regards the
alloys, brass and bell-metal as forming a category distinct from the unalloyed
seven. The only real difference is that Sukra takes rangaka as something
different from vanga (which has been always known to be tin). From the
composition that he gives of pittala (alloy of copper and rangaka) we find no
difficulty in identifying his ranga with zinc. Sukraniti requires to be noted
on another point also. This is about the use of the term jasada , which has
been given in Madanapfila to designate zinc. The jasada and rangaka of
Sukraniti are thus synonyms denoting the same substance—zinc.
Though it is not rational to argue anything from mere non-mention we
may tentatively conclude, subject to the fallacy of argumentum ex silentio , that
the portions of Sukraniti dealing with metals must be attributed to people
living about or after 1374, the year of the composition of Madanapfila-nighantu,*
but not earlier.*
Subsequent notions.
The same seven metals including zinc are mentioned in Dhfituratnamfila,
also another work of the same epoch which gives Kharpara the name of
jasada ; and in the Dhdtukriya of the 16th century which gives the synonyms
of all the metals. In this last work zinc is called jfisatwa, jasa-dfiyaka, rupya-
bhr&tfi (brother to silver), charmaka, kharpara, rasaka; 4 and the two alloys
mentioned in Sukraniti are also enumerated. The tradition of the seven
1 See Hindi* Chemistry , VoL II, LXX.
* See Text edited by Pandit Jiv&nanda Vidyftsagara (1875), pp. 50-52.
• It would be interesting to observe that in Europe also the Doetrlne of seven metals
held its sway for long. It was supposed that there was a mystic connexion between the
planets and the metals. Thus gold, the prince of metals, was the favourite of Sun, the
lord of the firmament, liquid mercury was the favourite of the planet Mercury, the
changeful deity ; and so on. This idea of the connexion between planets and things of
this world will be treated of in the section on the Doctrine of Nine Qerns.
4 « Rasaka and Kharpara are the names generally applied to the mineral calamine.'
Dr Ray.
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metals Is continued in the Bhfivaprakfi&a of the 16th century which describe*
tin by the name of ranga and zinc by jasada. But Rdjanighantu of the 17th
century does not mention zinc, though it enumerates the two alloys and seven
metals. Kfudrasuvarna is mentioned in the place of zinc.
Whether the authors have reckoned only six lohas or seven (as since
14th century downwards), the principle has been to count the pure or unalloyed
metals only. Later, the doctrine of seven pure metals is replaced by that of
eight and nine metals, without reference to their character as pure or alloys.
Thus Dr. Ramadasa Sen quotes a Vaidyaka text which regards gold, silver,
copper, iron, Kusya (zinc), mercury, ranga (tin) and lead as the eight principal
dhdtus. Another version of the tradition of eight metals is supplied by
Ddnasagata which gives gold, silver, ledmsya (the alloy bell-metal), copper,
lead, ranga (tin), iron and raita (brass).
The Sukhabodha considers nine metals to be chief, e.g. t gold, silver, ara
(brass), nfiga (lead), copper, ranga (tin), tiksqa (species of iron, steel), kamsya
(bell-metal) and kanta lauha (species of iron). This list does not give zinc^
mentions iron twice, and includes the two alloys which are known to the author
as such, according to Dr. Sen. 1
It is to be noted, moreover, that in the extracts from Bhavaprakasa and
other works just quoted, the word ranga is used not for zinc (as, in SukranUi ,
a synonym for jasada), but for vanga, trapu or tin (as in Susruta, Madanapala,
and Dhatukriya).
Another fact should draw our attention. In the whole literature on the
subject from the earliest times, mercury has not been mentioned in any list of
metals, except in the above quotation from vaidyaka; though its use as a
medicinal drug has been known since at least the epoch of S&rangadhara-San -
graha (14th century), * according to Dr. Dutt, but according to Dr. Ray,
since at least the age of Varahamihira s (6th century), who mentions 1 iron and
mercury among the aphrodisiacs and tonics * in Brihat SamhitA .
Explanation of the number Seven.
The foregoing account will have shown that the * Doctrine of Seven Metals*
represents only certain stages in the story of metals in Indian literature.
Allowing for the fallacy of argumentum ex silentio , we have placed it in the
epoch between the 14th and 17th century. For an explanation or 'philoso?
phy 1 of this doctrine we may hazard a hypothesis. Perhaps it is to be sought
1 See Ramadasa Sen's Ratna-rahasya , a Bengali work already referred to.
s * The oldest work containing a detailed account of the calcination or preparation
of the different metals {such as gold, silver, iron, mercury, oopper, tin and lead) is, I
believe, a concise treatise on medicinal preparations by S&rangadhara.'—Dr. Dutt’s Preface
to his Materia Medica of the Hindus. Dr. Dutt believes that mercury was jqst coming
Into use in Ghakrapfipi's time (11th century),
• Hindu Chemistry , Vol. I, xlvii. First Edition. 4 The Rasdrnaua of Nagsrjuna (8th
oentury) is, as the name implies, the 1 sea of mercury' and extols the virtues of mercury
and its various preparations.' The discovery of this work by Dr. Ray also falsifies the
notion of Dr. Dutt and testifies to the antiquity of the internal use of mercury.
12
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( 00 )
in the Theory of Mystic Numbers like three, seven, nine, etc., which has had
its day in both eastern and western thought. So far as seven is concerned,
in India we have the seven Rishis, the seven mouths or tongues of Fire, the
seven Kulaparavatas or mountains, the seven rivers, the seven planets or
grahas , the seven heavens, the seven seas (salt, curd, milk, etc,), the con¬
stellation of seven stars called saptarsimandala, the seven immortals (chirajivt-
nah) etc. The tradition of seven being the number of principal metals may have
had its origin in the same tendency of people to tabulate important facts and
things of the world according to one or other of the numeral orders. Or,
originally, the doctriqe may have had nothing to do with mystic numbers—
it may have been the result of a simple observation of mineralogical facts.
The arguments of Dr. Ray to prove the indigenous origin of Indian
alchemy incidentally throw important light on the doctrine of seven metals
both in the east and the west, and demonstrate the absence of any mystic
connexion between planets and metals in Hindu thought. ‘Oneof the most
favourite doctrines of the neo-Platonists was that the metals were engendered
in the womb of the earth under the influence of the planets. According to
Olympiodorus (5th century A.D.) lead is begotten by Saturn, electrum by
Jupiter, iron by Mars, copper by Venus, tin by Hermes, gold by the Sun and
silver by the Moon. * * * VarShamihira’s Brihat Samhitd , if anything, is a
repertory of astrological notions. In vain do we look even there for any chance
and solitary reference. The alchemical literature of India is equally silent about
it. • • • The old Greek writers repeatedly refer to the mystic relationship
between the seven planets and the seven metals. * * * The Arabs who adopted
many of the Greek doctrines of alchemy also represented the seven metals by
the seven planets. * * But in Sanskrit literature we find invariably six metals.
It is only in the Sdrangadhara and other later works that we find seven
metals; * * but this author adds two more to the list and quietly lays down
that there are nine metals, which derive their names from the nine planets. 1
* * Rajputana had been overrun and occupied for a brief period by the Musal-
man conquerors shortly before the time of S&rangadhara, and it is reasonable
to suppose that he had gleaned some astrological notions from that quarter.’*
Finally, it may be observed that while in India the doctrine of nine
gems was influenced by that of nine planets, the doctrine of seven metals
was influenced, if at all, by that of seven planets.
Section 8.
The Economic Mineralogy of Suhrdchdryya's India.
(a) The Pure Metals .
References to gold as to other minerals in, Sukraniti are commercial,
financial and industrial. The statesmen of the Sukra cycle are concerned
1 See the discussion in the section on the Doctrine of Nine Oemt.
* Dr. Ray’s Hindu Chemistry Vol. II, lxxxvi—xc.
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with them principally as marketable commodities and possessing some * value,*
Identification of these metals, examination of their genuineness, and determi-
nation of their * price * in terms of money are the chief topics dealt with by
Sukrdchdryya. A study of these references will thus be a main source of
our knowledge of the commercial geography and economic history of India in
ancient times, and incidentally of mining, 1 minting, metallurgy and other
industries.
It is not safe, however, to infer anything as to the locale of Suhraniti
from the references to mines and metals, as (i) they are more or less of a vague
character and (ii) the mineral products are very mobile and easily transportable,
commanding what is known as the 1 world-market.’ Perhaps the definite refer¬
ences to the rates of royalty, remuneration and prices apply to the ideas
generally prevalent rather than to those of any one mineralogical zone, e t g.,
Rajputana, Deccan, &c.
i. Gold.*
The lustre and brilliancy of gold are well-known to the Sukra authors.
Gold, 9 according to them, is the best metal. Its appreciation as an ornament
used in decorating the person of human beings is referred to. The making of
ornaments with gold is a fcfl/d. 4
Testing.
There are two methods by which gold can be identified. The first me¬
thod consists in differentiating it from other metals. 1 The test is given in the
rule that “ gold of the same weight as other metals is small in volume. Others
are bulky.” The density of gold being high, there will necessarily be great
weight in small bulk. Thus, though the gold coin mohur and silver rupee
have the same weight, the mohur is smaller in size than the rupee. The
second method consists in differentiating pure gold from imitation gold or an
alloy or some other metal. The test as described previously is conducted in
the following way : 14 If two pieces of a metal, 6 one pure and the other sus¬
pected as alloy, be successively passed through the same hole, and threads of
equal lengths be drawn out of them and weighed, and if the weights of both
are equal, then the metal is unalloyed, otherwise not.” Thus, as Prof.
Yoges Chandra Ray says, if the weight of, say, copper wire be 8, that of gold
wire of the same length (drawn through the same hole and hence having the
same width) would be 19. Or take copper and gold of the same weight, and
1 For an account of mines and minerals in Modern India, see the Indian Empire in
the Imperial Gazetteer of India Series. Descriptive and Economic Volumes (Land III).
1 Principal Burns in his monograph on Gold and Silver work in the Bombay Presidency
(1904) has. dealt with the subject a bit historically. Of. also “ Paris Universal Exhibition,
1878: Handbook to the Indian Court,” by Sir George Bird wood, pp. 59-61, second edition.
• Sukra IV, ii, 178-175.
4 Sukra IV, iii, 179.
• Sukra IV, ii, 177.
• Sukra IV, U, 178 - 179 .
Digitized by L^ooQle
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draw two wires through the same hole; then if the length of gold wire be 8,
that of the copper wire would be 19. Both these tests of Sukr&chdryya are
thus dependent on the theory of Specific Gravity.
The use of gold in art for decorative or utilitarian purposes necessarily
introduces difficulties in the matter of testing the genuineness or otherwise
of the material worked upon. The following are the rules for the guidance of
people : (1) when one hundred palas of gold 1 is taken and melted, it is pure if
it still remains one hundred palas, and does not become less. (2) In articles
of the best workmanship gold* is lost by a two-hundredth part of itself,
(while silver by a hundredth part); and if soldered by using good material, the
weight is increased by a sixteenth part. Having examined the soldering and
the workmanship, the increase or decrease should be determined.
The Sukra statesmen are of course specially interested in the ability to
distinguish the values of gems and metals and difierentiate the genuine from
counterfeit coins or imitation from pure metals. And the testing of the
worth of gold was certainly a very common phenomenon in Sukra’s times,
as it still is. For the examination of the genuineness of precious metals
supplied an analogy with the examination of the character of officers and
servants. Thus we read : “Just as gold 9 is tested by experts by having
reference to the lightness or heaviness of weight, colour, sound, etc., so also
one should examine servants or officers by reference to their work, companion¬
ship, merits, habits, family relations, &c.”
As Wealth and as Money .
Several references in Suktanitt point to gold and silver, specially the
former being the ‘measure’ or ‘standard’ of value. Its functions as the
‘ medium of exchange ’ is also frequently indicated. Thus among the things to
be studied by the king for four muhurtas 4 before meals we find gold 1 men¬
tioned along with grains, clothes, jewels, &c. Gold is here to be taken either
as a valuable commodity (Bullion) i.e. % a form of ‘ wealth * hoarded in the
treasury like grains in the granary, or as coins that have come into the treasury
in the process of circulation as ‘ money * i>., medium of exchange.
The same may be said of the reference to gold in the rule that advises
the king to appoint separate officers to look after elephants, horses, chariots,
infantry, cattle, gold, 6 jewels, silver, clothes, &c. It is not difficult to appreciate
the importance of having separate officers for gold, jewels and silver. But per¬
haps there is to be only one officer for all these valuables, whether as bullion or
as pioney, as distinguished from other officers appointed for horses, chariots, &c.
1 Sukra 1Y, v, 645. One pala is 8 tolas. One silver pala Is therefore Rs, 8.
• Sukra IV, v, 649 - 652 .
• Sukra II, 106-109.
4 1 Muhurta=48 minutes.
• Sukra 1,661-662.
•Sukra H, 287 - 288 .
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That there Is to be one officer for these precious metals and # stones is clearly
indicated in the following lines which describe the qualification oT the people
in charge of the department: That man is to be in charge of jewels, gold,
silver, and coins who can distinguish their values by their weight, shape,
lustre, colour and resemblances. 9 ' The mudrds 1 or coins may be taken
separately as an independent item or as a compound with svarna and
in which case the idea of gold and silver money or currency is unmistakably
suggested.
The use of gold in both the functions of money as the standard of
value as well as the medium of exchange is also referred to in the following
lines:
(1) Houses* are meant for gold, jewels, silver, ntfkas* or coins etc., and
other purposes on which expenditure is technically called bhogya .
(2) “ Dravym 4 (lit. goods) is silver, gold, and copper coined for commercial
purposes.” The term 1 Dravya 9 may be taken to be the equivalent of what
is technically called 4 Money. 9
(3) 44 Silver, gold and other booty* belong to him who wins them. The
ruler should satisfy the troops by giving them those things with pleasure,
according to the labour undergone.
Uses oj Gold.
Besides the mention of gold as ornaments, valuables and coins, we
meet with its use for various other purposes. Thus among the ten requisites
in the administration of justice 0 there is the mention of gold which is intended
to be the material by which the witnesses are to swear oaths. There is here
a religious significance pertaining to the noblest of all metals. Gold is also
one of the metals used in the preparation of badges, 9 sceptres, &c. The
king should mark those who have been his employees by the proper insignia
of office placed on steel, copper, bell-metal or bronze, silver, gold and jewels.
Again, two men bearing gold sceptres* are to be on one side to communicate
the presence and salutation of persons to the king.
Then there is the reference to its use in sculpture. Thus just as there
are special stones 9 appropriate to each Yuga to be used as materials for the
images of gods, so we have the rule that Images are to be of gold, silver,
copper, and bell-metal or bronze in the satya, treta, dwapara, and kali ages
1 Sakra II, 803-304.
* Sakra II, 692-3.
* 8akra IV, ii, 205. Nfyka has a technical meaning. It is the valoe of gold weighing
4 m&t6s, or 32 ratio.
4 Sakra II, 712-73. Cf. Jayaswal in the Modern Review tor November, 1913.
* Sakra IV, vil, 740-750.
* Sakra IV, ▼, 71-78,79.
* Sakra II, 853-866.
* Sakra 1,722.
* Sakra IV, iv, 310-311,314.
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respectively. The order of metals as given here is certainly according to
its depreciation in value and people’s estimation*
The State in fetation to Gold #
Certain socio-economic and socio-political laws or regulations with regard
to gold are to be noticed. First, without the permission of the king the follow¬
ing things are not to be done by subjects, e.g. gambling, use of arms, sales and
purchases of gold, 1 silver, jewels, poisons &c. Trade in precious metals and
stones cannot thus be carried on without a license. Here is another instance
of Sukr&charyya’s advocacy of State Intervention in Industry. Socondly, as
we noticed before, those who prepare ornaments of gold,* jewels, &c., are men¬
tioned among the artists and artisans who should be maintained by the
state. Thirdly, the rate of royalty upon gold 5 mining is declared to be one-
half of the produce after the expenses have been met.
Fourthly, those who use others* dress, ornaments and gold are guilty
of offences called chhalas 4 against the moral sense or social etiquette of the
community.
Fifthly, those who deal in gold,® grains, and liquids collectively will have
earnings according to the amount of their share greater, equal or less. Here
is a reference to the joint-stock system or collective organisation in connexion
with commercial enterprises, and the rule applies to the dividend of share¬
holders. The same rule applies not only to commerce and trade as given
here, but also to joint-stock industries and handicrafts. Thus 44 the gold¬
smiths should get remuneration according to the labour undergone by each
in cases where they combine 8 to perform a work of art.”
Lastly, we have an idea of the rate of remuneration at which the artists
are to be paid who work in gold, e.g., for the manufacture of ornaments, seals,
emblems, badges, images, sceptres 7 coins, &c. Thus we are told that the
goldsmith’s* wages is to be one-thirtieth the value worked upon if workman¬
ship be excellent, one-sixtieth if mediocre, and half of that if of inferior order.
Wages is to be half of that in the case of kataka (bracelet), and in the case
of mere melting, half of that. And we have noticed previously the tests by which
people are to be protected from metal-workers’ fraud. 9 There is at least one
reference to the character of goldsmiths. Thus it is said that 44 goldsmiths 10
are the fathers of thieves.” Of course, all metal-workers are meant.
kxchange - Value .
Last but not least in importance are the references in Sukraniti to the
comparative values and 44 prices ” of the metals, i.e, their values in terms of
1 Sukra I, 603-608. 6 Sukra IV, v, 614-615.
^ Sukra II, 397-898. • Sukra IV, v, 603-604.
» Sukra IV, ii, 238-285. ’ Sukra I, 722.
4 Sukra IV, v, 151-152. • Sukra IV, v, 658-655.
• See the reference to the amounts of material that are lost or increased in workman¬
ship. IV, v, 645-652..
Sukra IV,iv,88.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 95 )
"money/* and their “exchange-value" not only with regard to themselves, but
also with regard to other commodities. The distinction between wealth (Dhanm)
and money (Dravya) is certainly known to the statesmen of the Sukra cycle. We
have noticed above the recognition of the distinction between bullion and coin
in Sukraniti. The ' unit * of currency and monetary measurement as well as
prices and other allied subjects will be discussed in the chapters on the Data of
Ancient Indian Economic's and Public Finance .
It may be noticed here that both gold and silver seem to be mediums
of exchange and “ legal tender ” in Sukraniti. Prices are mentioned sometimes
in terms of gold, often in terms of silver. “ Eight ratis make one ten
md$ds make one suvarna . l Five times that suvarna make eighty silver
karsakas .” The Suvarna and Karsaka are gold and silver coins respect¬
ively, and one Suvarna is equivalent to sixteen Karsakas. The same ratio*
is also noted by Sukra in determining the comparative value of gold and
silver as bullion or ingot. Thus “the value of gold 9 is sixteen times that of
silver."
The face-value and metallic value of the gold coin were the same in the
mediaeval Chola Empire (800 — 1200 A.D.) The statement in Sukraniti can
be well illustrated by the following extract from Aiyangar’s Ancient India :
“The unit of currency was the gold Kdsu {28 grains Troy). This coin appears
to have passed for its metallic value, because the great Rfijarfija got all
gifts to the temple carefully weighed and appraised. All gold ornaments among
these are entered with their weights alone, but no value is given, while jewels
set with briiliants, etc., are entered with their weights and their value in Kdsu.
We can safely infer that the Kdsu passed for its weight in gold, although its
value in grain and cattle might vary.’’
In 1883, *>., about thirty years ago, Dr. Rfimfidfisa Sen noticed the ratio of
gold to silver to be 1 to 20. To-day it is about 1 to 24. There has thus been
a great decline in the value of silver as money t i.e., a falling ofl in the purchasing
power of silver coins since the days of Sukrfichfiryya. It would be an
interesting study in Indian Economic and Financial History to find out the
epoch or epochs when the ratio given by Sukrficharyya held good. That would
go a great way in fixing the age of the portions of Sukraniti referring to the
currency. 4
1 Sukra 1Y, ii. 188-189.
2 It would thus be evident that both nominal or “ face ’* value and intrinsic or 14 real *
value of the coins are the same. There is no law artificially regulating the price of the
coins and the precious metals. The market value of the metals (as indicated by the relation
between gold and silver as bullion) was maintained in the currency.
» Sukra IV, ii, 181.
4 This will be dealt with in a subsequent chapter. Statistics given in Brihat SamhitA
(fith cent.), Yuktikalpataru (llth cent.), and Ayeen Akbari (16th cent.), would supply valu¬
able materials for a history of Indian Prices. The Bengali work of the 17th century, the
Kavi-Kankana-Chandi , and Seir Mutaquherin of the 18th century are also important docu¬
ments of socio-economic history.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 9 ® )
According to DhatukriyA, a Tantric work of the 16th century, Mab4deva
enumerates to' P&rvati the following places as sources of gold and auriferous
ores: Phvakadri (?), seaside countries, Sindhu, K&raarOpa, &c.
ii. Silver.
Like the sun and the moon, gold and silver have been mentioned in
Sukrantti almost as twins. References to the two hietals have been made
together both explicitly as well as implicitly. Thus our information about silver
is nearly the same as about gold, whether as regards (i) examination as to
genuineness, or identification, (2) the uses as money i.e. standard of value and
medium of exchange, (3) the socio-economic and socio-political regulations, (4) the
uses in decorative or useful arts, (5) the rates of royalty upon mining and (6)
wages to artists, or as regards (7) the circulation as 1 * * 4 legal tender/ The Sukra
statesmen have supplied us with parallel facts on all these points in connexion
with the two noblest of metals. The following account deals with the remarks
about silver.
The examination 1 of silver need not detain us for it is the same as that
of gold and other metals.
The wastage or increment of silver inevitable in the industrial processes
are known by the following rules: (1) H Silver is diminished by four-hundredth
part* when melted; if it is otherwise, the artisan should always be punished
by the king, (2) In articles of best workmanship silver is lost by a hundredth
part; and if soldered by a good material the weight is increased by a sixteenth
part.
Silver 5 is mentioned along with gold (1) as a valuable commodity or as
coins to be studied by the king for four tnuhurlas before meals, (2) in connexion
with the appointment of officers 4 in charge of jewels and coins, (3) in con*
nexion with expenditure on houses that are meant for valuables/ 1 (4) in the
definition of dravya 6 or 4 Money/ and (5) as booty 1 to be distributed among the
soldiers by the king.
Besides thj uses of silver as ornaments, valuables and coins, we find
references in Sukrantti to the metal being used (1) in the preparation of
badges® by which officers are to be distinguished, and (2) in the construction of
images in Tretdyuga , B
The socio-economic laws regarding silver are also the same as those
for gold. Thus (1) trade in silver 10 cannot be carried on without a license. (2)
The rate of royalty upon silver 11 mining is declared to be one-half of the
produce after the expenses of extraction have been met. (3) The references to (a)
chhalas and (< b ) joint-stock organisation are implied, 1 * though silver has not been
1 Sukra IV, 11, 178-179.
* Stikra IV, ▼, 646-47,649-662.
* Sukra I) 561-662.
4 SukTa II) 803-804, 287-288.
* Sukra 11, 692498.
* Sukra II, 712-718.
T Sukra IV, vii, 749-760.
a Sukra II, 868-66.
• Sukra IV, iv, 814.
10 Sukra 1,608-608,
11 Sukra IV, ii, 288-286.
11 Sukra IV, v, 161-162,614415.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 97 )
definitely mentioned. (4) The rate of remuneration for the artist is given below :
The silversmith's wages 1 is to be half of the material worked upon, if work¬
manship be of the highest order, half of this if mediocre, half of that if inferior,
and half of that in the case of kalaka (bracelet). Iu the case of the craft con¬
ducted on joint stock principles, the silversmiths are to be governed by the same
rule as goldsmiths.*
Th^ silver coin is.called harsaka ,• sixteen karsakas make one suvarna
or w gold coin. The ratio of silver to gold as money is exactly the same as
t^at as bullion . Thus 44 the value of gold is sixteen times that of silver. 4 99
The comparative value of silver and copper is also giveo. 41 The value of
silver is almost eighty times that of copper. 99 The financial and economic
questions 1 connected with the metals will be dealt with in a separate chapter.
It now remains to note one remark about silver which the Sukra authors
have not made regarding gold or other metals. 44 The king should daily receive
from the sales of silver® one-fifth, one-fourth, one-third or one-half—not more 99
It is difficult to see the propriety of this, since the royalty on mining has been
once described And since the duty on sales has not been mentioned as regards
other metals.
The following extract relates to the antiquity and history of silver-extrac¬
tion in India
44 Solomon is said to have hired fleets of ships from Tarshish for the pur¬
pose of obtaining from Ophir the silver used in decorating his palace and temple.
The latter place has been identified by some writers as a port or district on the
Malabar coast; but at least it is undoubted that Pliny, who wrote A.D. 77,
referred to India as a country whence silver was obtained for the use of the
Romans/ * * * There seems good reason to believe that the Chinese
obtained silver from Malabar. • • • In the Ayeen Akbari , written about the end
of the sixteenth century, silver mines are mentioned near Agra and in Kashmir.
* * • Tavernier in his Travels says in one passage that Japan is the only
Asiatic country where silver occurs, but afterwards cites Bhutan and Assam
as possessing silver mines."
Hi Copper .
The examination of copper has to be conducted according to the same
method as that of gold and silver. The wastage 8 of copper in industries
amounts to one-hundredth part.
1 Sukra IV, v, 656-657.
* Sukra IV, v, 608-604.
» Sukra IV, U, 180.
4 Sukra IV, ii, 181,182.
* For Indian Numismatics, see the Historical Volume, and for Modern Indian Currency
and Prices, see the Economic Volume of the Indian Empire in the Imperial Gazetteer
Series.
• Sukra IV, v, 648-644.
T Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. VI, Part III, pp. 288-248,
• Sukra IV, v, 647,
18
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 98 )
Copper is not mentioned as a valuable to be hoarded nor as a material for
ornaments. Badges, 1 however, are made of this material. Images* of gods also
are constructed out of copper in Dwdparoyuga , s The rate of royalty upon
copper mining 4 is one-fourth of the produce. The coppersmith 6 is to get one-
fourth of the value worked upon as wages.
Copper coins are mentioned in the definition of Dravya or 1 Money * along
with gold and silver (II, 712-713). A pana 8 is a piece of copper coined by
the king weighing ten ntd$ds. The following comparative values’define the
position of copper in the scale of prices: 41 The value of silver is eighty times
that of copper. The value of tin is one and a half times that of copper, that of
zinc twice that of tin, *>., thrice that of copper, that of lead thrice that of tin, i.e.
four times and a half of that of copper, that of iron six times.” Excluding
cowries, copper coin is thus of the lowest value in the realm, gold being the
highest and silver intermediate. The currency questions will be discussed
in a subsequent chapter along with the historical significance of the prices.
It remains now to note that among artisans to be 6 protected' by the
king we find the mention of coppersmith ;• and that copper is a constituent 9 of
two alloys : (1) bell-metal or bronze, together with tin, and (2) brass, together
with zinc.
In the Dhdtukriyd of the sixteenth century, the following places have been
enumerated as the sources of copper: Nepal, K&marQpa, Bangala, Madam -
s&ar(?), Gangddwdra(?) t Malddri(?) t the country of the Mlechchhas, Pdvak -
ddri(?) t ROma (Constantinople), the country of the Phirangas (Portuguese and
Europeans).
Mr. Medlicott, f. r. s., gives the following distribution of copper in the
Dictionary of Economic Products of India : Singhbhurn, Dhalbhum, Hazaribagh,
Rajputand Slates, Ajmir, Afghanistan, Kumaon, Gharwal, Darjiling, Western
Duars, Kurnul and Nellore.
41 In ancient times copper mines were worked on a larger scale than at
present.*'
The importance of copper in Hindu religious ceremonies is thus de¬
scribed in the Journal of Indian Art: 10 11 Fine shrines for the god, with ex¬
cellent flower-carvings; dishes or platters with tanks or lotus patterns nicely
worked out; the pedestal for the placing of the image during the sacred bath ;
the vessels except when the worshipper is rich and can afford silver ones,
and everything connected with the performance of Hindu worship are made
of copper.”
1 Sukra II, 868-855.
2 For copper in Indian Art, see Vincent Smith’s History of Fine Art in India and
Ceylon, % pp. 171-172, 198, 364. Vide also Birdwood’s Paris Universal Exhibition, 1878, pp. 61-2
(2nd Edition).
• Sukra IV, iv, 814. T Sukra IV, ii, 182-184.
4 Sukra IV, ii, 238-285. * Sukra II, 399.
• Sukra IV, v, 658-659. 9 Sukra IV, ii, 176.
• Sukra IV, i, 288. 10 P, 29, VoJ III, No. 29.
Digitized by ^ ooQle
< M )
iv. Iron.
Iron is an important substance, though it is not used as material for
coins. The list of 64 holds' or practical arts, as well as the enumeration of
the artisans* and artists to be maintained by the state, indicate the place that iron
occupies in Industrial life. We may note that iron-images* are also recom¬
mended.
The wastage 4 of material involved in workmanship amounts to one-
eighth part. The wages 1 of the blacksmith may be half of, or equal to, or
twice or eight times of, the value worked upon. The rate of royalty 6 is one-sixth
of iron upon the produce after the expenses have been met.
Among the industries 1 in which iron plays a conspicuous part are those
connected with warfare. The arms and weapons, chariots and ordnances all
require the use of iron. The Sukra authors have noticed it. Needles and
razors have also been mentioned. We are also told that even the hard iron
can, by proper methods, be converted into a liquid.®
The value of iron® is six times that of copper.
In his Handbook to the Indian Court 10 at the Paris Universal Exhibition
of 1878, Sir George Bird wood remarks : 11 Iron is frequently mentioned in the
Bible under the Hebrew name of paldah % which is the Arabic fulad , and indi¬
cates Indian iron.” And Mr. E. B. Havell' 1 is of opinion that in the use of steel
11 Hindu craftsmen had no rival until quite modern times,” and refers to the
notes on the use of wrought-iron girders in Orissan temples in Orissa and her
Remains by Mr. Manomohan Ganguly, B. E.
The following gives the geographical distribution of iron ores according
to Dh&tukriyA (16th century): Lob&dri, Gay&dri, Gautam&dri, Vindhya,
Naladri, Tryamvaka, seaside places.
v. Tin .
Information about this metal is very small in Sukraniti. We are told
that the wastage of the material in industrial processes amounts to one-
sixteenth part. 14 The rate of royalty upon tin-mining 18 is one-sixth of the
produce after the expenses have been met. The workman’s remuneration 14
is one-fourth of the value worked upon. We are not told what are the indus¬
tries in which tin plays a part, except that together with copper it makes the
' Sukra IV, iii, 132-200. 4 Sukra IV, v, 046-648.
* Sukra II, 883-411. •. Sukra IV, v, 658-659.
* Sukra IV, iv, 817. * Sukra IV, ii, 283-35.
* See references to chariots (IV, vii, 60-68), n&iikftstras (IV, vii, 889-394), cannon¬
balls and bullets (IV, vii, 407-408), gunpowders (IV, vii, 411-15), and the weiapons (IV, vii,
422-64).
■ Sukra IV, vii, 688-90.
* Sukra IV, ii, 188-184. 11 Sukra IV, v, 646-648.
10 Second Edition p. 28. *« Sukra IV, ii, 283-285.
11 Indian Architecture, p. 122. 14 Sukra IV, v, 658-659.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 100 )
alloy bell-metal 1 or bronze. The proportion of the constituents is not stated.
The value of tin 8 is one and a half tiroes that of copper.
India is not naturally rich in tin-ores, the deposits “being more of
mineralogical than practiceal interest; as modern geological surveys indicate.
In certain parts of the Malaya Peninsula and Burma, however, rich deposits
of tin-stone occur.’ 1 Oldham and Ball have described these occurrences in
Further India.
Says Dr. Watt* 11 tin has been known in India from a very remote period,
and early held an important place in Sanskrit Materia Medica, being mentioned
by Susruta. The supply was probably obtained from Burma or from some of
the tin-producing islands of the Malaya Archipelago; between which and India
trade must have existed in very ancient times.”
But, as we have seen, tin was familiar to the Hindus even in Vedic
times. The connexion (commercial, and also political) between India and
Further India must therefore be inferred to have existed so early as that. And
according to Birdwood, 4 “ Homer mentions tin by its Sanskrit name Kastira;
and the Phoenicians, who first learnt the name from the trade through the
Arabs with India, afterwards gave the name of Cassiterides to the Scilly
islands and Cornwall where it still survives in Cassiter street, Bodmin.’*
vi. Lead .
information about lead in Sukrantti is as meagre as that about tin, though
it is slightly greater. Thus we are told that lead-images 5 may be constructed
for religious purposes; and that lead may be used for cannon-balls 6 and also as
an ingredient of gunpower.’
The wastage 4 of material in industrial processes amounts to one-sixteenth
part, the artisan’s remuneration is not mentioned. The rate of royalty upon
lead-mining is one-sixth of the produce after the expenses of extraction have
been met. The value of lead is thrice that of tin #>., four times and a half of
that of copper.
The geographical distribution of lead is thus given in DhatukriyA of the
16th cent.: Nepftla, Keddra, Karmakanda, Tryamvaka, Tripura.
“ Although at the present time lead ores are not largely worked in India,
Ball 0 states that there is probably no metal of which the ores have been worked
» Sukra IV, 11,17®.
* Sukra IV il, 183.
* See Dictiomry of the Economic Products of India , Vol. VI, Part IV, pp. 67-82. On the
authority of Dr. U. C. Putt, Dr. Watt traces the antiquity of tin to Susruta. But for
recent researches, see Macdonell and Keith's Vedic Index , I, 81, 826.
4 Parts Universl Exhibition (2nd Edition), p. 28. Mr. Schoff, however, believes Kastira
to be a non-Sanskrit word, cf. Periplus, p. 79.
* Sukra IV, iv, 817.
•Sukra IV, vii, 407 408.
* Sukra IV, vii, 411-415.
* Sukra IV, v, 646-48.
* Dictionary of Economic Products of India ( 1890 ), Vol. IV, pp. 601 - 8 .
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 101 )
to so large an extent in ancient times, excepting those of iron. This is testified
to by the number of old mines in Southern India, Rfijputana, Baluchistan, and
Afghanistan.”
According to Mr. SchofPs Ptriplus ,* " Lead and Tin are mentioned in the
Arlha &dstra as alloys used in coining.”
vii . Zinc.
We have already noticed several important points in connexion with the
use of zinc in India under the heading of the Doctrine of Seven Metals .
The wastage* of material in industrial processes amounts to one-sixteenth
part. The remuneration* of the workman is one-fourth of the value worked
upon. The rate of royalty upon mining is not given. Its value is twice
that of tin, i>., thrice that of copper. 4 It enters into the composition of the alloy
brass, 1 together with copper; but the proportion of the constituents is not
given.
Dhdtukriyd, a Tantric work of the 16th century, enumerates the following
sources of zinc : Rumbhddri , Kdmboja, ROma, Balkh, Bangala.
11 Zinc, according to Mr. Dampier, 6 “ appears to have been introduced
into Europe from India, whence, as in the similar case of muslin and calico, it
has returned in such volume as to oust the original native product.
“Zinc* occurs in nature, in combination with sulphur, forming the
sulphide or zinc blende t with oxygen forming zincite; and more rarely as a
silicate, carbonate, sulphate or arsenate. * * * “ The only considerable
deposit of zinc ores, which has been extensively worked in the peninsula,
occurs in this region (Rdjputana) at Jawar in the Udepur State. * * * In Colonel
Tod’s Rdjasthan , the mines are alluded to incidentally as having yielded an
annual revenue of Rs. 2,22,000. * * * The mines were closed during the
famine of 1812-1813 and have not since been* re-opened. The ore appears to
consist chiefly of zinc carbonate/’
Mr. John Henry Pepper in The Play-Book of Metals gives the following
history of zinc in the west: “The metal was not known to the ancients, although
they were acquainted with the mineral cadmium or calamine; and without it they
could not have made brass. Hesiod states that * in remote ages the earth
was filled with brass implements of agriculture, because iron had not been
discovered.’ The use of calamine in the composition of brass was known to
Aristotle, who makes a distinction between the compound resulting from the
mixture of copper and calamine and that resulting from the mixture of copper
1 P. 221 (Longmans, 1912).
• Sukra IV, ▼, 046 048.
• Sukra IV, y, 058-069.
4 Sukra IV, ii, 188-184.
• 6okra IV, li, 170.
• Monograph on Brass and Copper wares (1894), p. 21.
’ Dictionary of the Economic Products of India t Vol. VI, Part IV (1898), pp. 860-8(7.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 102 )
and tin. 1 444 Zinc appears to have been first called by that name in the
writings of the madly-Zealous Paracelsus, about the year 1540.’’
We have seen previously that zinc has been mentioned by the Hindus as
a separate metal by King MadanapAla of Kanauj in 1374.
(b) The alloys.
Two alloys* are mentioned in Sultranlli : (1) k&msya which may be
either bronze or bell-metal, and (2) pittala or brass.
K&msya is the alloy of tin and copper, in what proportions, it is not stated.
It is mentioned (1) as one of the materials that may be used in the manufacture
of badges 5 by which the officers of the state are to be distinguished from
one another ; and (2) as the material to be used in the construction of images 4
for the Kaliyuga .
We are not supplied with any information as to the duties on commercial
transactions, the rate of remuneration of the workmen, &c., as we are not told
anything about the other alloy.
“Brass and bronze play in the Hindu household as important parts as glass
and china wares among the western nations.* ** The Hindus influenced
strongly by a * * feeling against using earthen and wooden wares, have been
using from time immemorial, brass and bronze wares for domestic purposes, and
copper ones on ceremonial occasions.”
The treatment of brasses and bronzes in mediaeval Hindu art has been
described by Mr. Vincent Smith® in connexion with South Indian workmanship.
He has given illustrations of brass portrait images of KrisnarAya of Vijaya-
gara (A.D. 1510-29) and his queens, NatarAja or dancing Siva from Tanjore,
the Bronze PArvatl (12th cent), bearded Ramchandra in bronze (18th cent. ?) and
plunging horse in bronze cast. Mr. Smith also refers to the many-sided genius
of VitapAla, the East Indian worker in bronze and stone, of Pala times.
Section 9 .
General remarks on Gems in Suhranili.
Pearls have been fished along the Coromandel Coast from long before
the time of Alexander’s invasion. Pearls, precious stones and gold have
been known in India as elements of ornament from time immemorial. Manu
ordains a fine for piercing fine gems as diamonds or rubies and for boring
1 Edition of 1861, pp. 494-95. See also Encyclopedia Britannic a (llth Edition), Vol.
28, p. 981.
* Sukra IV, ii, 176. Vide Birdwood’s Paris Universal Exhibition, 1878, pp. 61-68.
3 Sukra II, 858-855.
4 Sukra IV, iv, 814.
‘ The Decline of South Indian Arts by Pandita JVatesa Sastu in the Journal of Indian
Art , Vol. Ill, January 1890.
4 For bronze as a material in Indian Art, see Vincent Smith’s Bistory of Pine Art in
India and Ceylon, pp. 179-180, 286, 266-7, 805-7.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 103 )
pearls or inferior gems improperly. Rajendralal quotes Mrichchhakaix or
“Troy-Cart” of the ist cent. B. C. to show that the author Sudraka did not think
it inconsistent to describe, in the courtyard of a common courtezan’s house,
jeweller’s shops, “where skilful artists 1 were examining pearls, topazes,
sapphires, emeralds, rubies, lapis lazuli, coral and other jewels ; some set rubies
in gold, some work gold ornaments on coloured thread, some string pearls,
some grind the lapis lazuli, some pierce shells, and some cut coral.’’ Nor were
the people satisfied with such originals ; the requriments of society rendered
the fabrication of false jewellery a commonly practised art, in fact, one of the 64
Kalas according to Sukracharyya.
The authors of Sukra cycle have mentioned jewels and precious stones
mainly as valuable articles of commerce. As such, references to these in
Sukranlti are parallel to the remarks about gold and silver, the two noble
metals. Sometimes of course the word ratna or gem is used metaphorically
when it includes the noble metals as well. There is at least one remark of
Sukra which takes the term metaphorically and gives reasons also. “ Those
which are rare in this world are priced as gems.’’
As valuable commodities, the gems are hoarded in the treasury and demand
the king’s attention of four muhurtas* before meals. They require a special
officer* to look after them with the qualifications of a mineralogist, who can
detect the false stones and select the genuine ones. Special houses that
are to be built for them are erected at a cost which is technically known as
bhogya . 4
The definition of dravya 8 or 1 Money * includes not only the metallic coins
but also gems and cowries. The custom of distributing booty 8 among the
soldiery applies to gems also, though they are not distinctly mentioned. Jewels
like metals may be used to serve the purposes of badges 1 meant for distinguish¬
ing between officer and officer. Trade in jewels* is forbidden without a charter
or license. Like the goldsmiths, coppersmiths and other metalworkers, artists®
and artisans in gems and jewels also deserve encouragement and “protection ”
of the state.
The use of jewels belonging to some other person is one of the chhalas 10
or social offences recognised by the state. This is to be guessed from the de¬
scription of the offence with regard to gold and ornaments. Similarly also, the
rule about dividends of joint enterprises 11 and collective dealings in precious
stones, is to be inferred from that with regard to gold, grains and liquids.
We have been told that jewellers should be patronised by the state, but
information as to the rate of remuneration is not available. The rate of
1 Wilson’s Hindu Theatre , II, 85.
* Sukra I, 551-562.
* Sukra II, 808-804, 287-288.
4 Sukra II, 692-698.
* Sukra II, 712-718.
*» Sukra IV, v, 614-615.
4 Sukra IV, vii, 749-750.
T Sukra II, 858-855.
• Sukra I, 608-608.
9 Sukra II, 897-898.
10 Sukra IV, v, 151-152.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 104 )
royalty, however, is mentioned It is declared to be half of the net yiell of
precious metals, i>., after the expenses of extraction and production have been
met. The realisation of Government revenue from ratnas 1 is important
enough to be recognised as an item that should be studied by the Sumantra or
Finance Minister. Besides the revenue accruing regularly from the dkaras or
mines, Sukrftcharayya’s system of Public Finance recognises Ajndtaswdmi&a *
income. It is that wealth whose owners are unknown. Gems and jewels
(Ntdht) picked up in streets escheat to the state and constitute this class of
income.
Among property laws it is mentioned that the father is the lord of all gems*
etc., but neither the father nor the grand-father has authority over all immov¬
ables. This is a regulation about all precious movables.
We have thus far noted the parallelism between gems and noble metals
as valuable commodities. The fraud that may be committed with regard to
them, e.g., by the passing off of imitation jewels as genuine ones has also to be
notice^. It is mainly to guard the treasurer, the minister of Public Finance and
the king as well as the people that the Sukra statesmen have introduced the
topics of Economic Mineralogy in their Nitisdstra. If it is the ornament of jewels
to have splendour , 4 and if it be a general custom to present jewels and orna¬
ments' to females at marriage, it is necessary that people should have the eye to
find out what is the proper splendour of a jewel. Besides, there are natural
defects' in gems. It is known also that people of the island of Ceylon can make
artificial 9 pearls. The making of artificial gems* is in fact known to be a kal&.
Like the testing of gold and other metals, therefore, testing of gems as to
whether they are good or bad, as possessing marks or holes, has been recognised
as a hold. The advice to rich people and kings necessarily is: 44 The wise man
should determine their value by carefully examining* them. ” 11 The king
should keep the jewels after having them tested by experts as well as by
himself/'
The following general rule may help people in testing the worth of pre¬
cious stones: 44 Those who are experts in the study of gems describe that gem
as the best which has no pores , 10 has good colour, is without scratches and
spots, has good angles and bright lustre.”
The general information about colour and shape is being made more
clear in the following lines * 11 (i) “Gems (a) may have the colour of sarkara
(powdered bricks) or leaves of trees, and (b) may be flat or round in shape; (a)
“The colour and lustre of gems may be white, red, yellow and black.'*
There are two technical terms 1 * here used in connexion with the splen¬
dour of precious stones, viz., Chhdyd and Prabhd. The terms have been defined
‘ Sukra II, 211-212.
* Sukra II, 556-657.
* Sukra IV, v, 577-578.
4 Sukra II, 468-479.
• Sukra IV, ii, 171.
• Sukra IV, ii, 124.
» Sukra IV, iii, 178.
• Sukra IV, iv, 21-22.
• Sukra IV, ii, 171-172, 79-80.
l# Sukra IV, ii, 07-98.
11 Sukra IV, ii, 99-100.
Sukra IV, ii 108,
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by Sukra thus: (i) 14 The Chhdyd is that which attacks, 1 overpowers, and eclip¬
ses the colour (of other substances).** (a) The Prabhd ■ is that which reveals
the colour (of other substances). Prof. Ray in Ratnapariksd explains the
remarks of Sukra in the following way : The light of a lamp does two things
simultaneously t (1) It removes the darkness and makes other objects visible,
#>., makes it possible for them to display their colour and attributes, (a) It
prevents like objects, e.g. t white paper or milk, from displaying their proper
colour and attributes. The first function of the lamp is due to its lustre or
prabhd , the second is due to its chhdyd. The light issuing from a lamp or a
jewel may thus be divided into two branches —(\) reflected, which makes other
things visible, (a) transmitted which eclipses other objects.
As for the value of precious stones, Sukra statesmen know that it depends
on both Demand and Supply. Omitting from one’s consideration the factors
that go to make 44 * Demand-Schedule,” as it is called by Professor Marshall, we
may note the following conditions on the Supply side. These conditions* give
in fact additional tests by which the splendour, lustre, and beauty of jewels are
to be determined, and the considerations which weigh much in people’s estima¬
tion :—
(1) Other things remaining the same, the 4 * exchange-value ” of a gem
depends oh its weight, lustre, colour, extent, receptacle and shape.
(a) Other things remaining the same, the 4 exchange-value * increases if
there be great bulk with small weight, and decreases if there be small bulk with
great weight.
(3) Other things remaining the same, ‘ exchange value * is smallest if the
lustre be that of %arkara (reddish powder of bricks); is middling if the shape
be flat; and greatest if the lustre be that of green leaves.
(4) Other things remaining the same, round jewels are not much appre¬
ciated and their 4 exchange-value 4 depends on the 44 Demand-Schedule. ”
The following information about gems recorded by the authors of the
Sukra cycle is useful:
(1) The gem on the head of the snake 4 is the best of all, of great splen¬
dour, but very rare. The tradition is old enough. The real explanation of gems
lying in the heads of snakes is that these creatures carry bright stones in their
mouths when they have to move in the dark. These they pick up from stocks
and stones in hills and mines and forests. When they get their prey, they
throw these jewels away from their mouths for a time, and carry them again as
lamps to point out their way, when they have finished their work at the spot.
1 This is the explanation of Prof. Yoges Ch. Ray. The reader is requested to note
the difference from my translation of the hemistich on p. 141 of the Sacred Books of the
Hindus Series XIII.
» P. 24, Edition of 1004.
» Sukra IV, ii, 107-114.
4 Sukra IV, ii, Off,
14
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(2) Except pearls and corals the gems cannot be cut or written upon 1 * * 4 * * *
by iron and stones (diamonds). This is said by those who are experts in
gems.
(3) The value of gems is measured by weight.*
(4) One should receive knowledge, manha , medicine, wife and gems*
even from low families. This general rule of morality may be compared to
Chfiijakya’s* adage that one should take gold from even the impure (persons
or places), the jewel of a wife from even low families, and good (useful) know¬
ledge from even the lowborn. It is implied that medicines, gems, &c., were
in Sukra’s days, as in ancient Hindu times generally, dealt in by the low class
men. Here is the sanction that these things may be accepted from persons,
who, otherwise beyond the pale of high society, are, however, experts in their
subjects.
(5) The gem that has its appropriate colour and lustre and is devoid
of any defects is beneficial to beauty, 8 growth, fame, valour and life. Others
are known to be injurious. This notion about the efficacy of precious stones
obtains with regard to noble metals also, and has had its sway since time
immemorial, both in the Eastern and Western worlds. The story of the
Talisman is well-known, and we have already quoted extracts from Vedic
literature bearing on this point.
(6) The above general idea has been crystallised by Sukra sociologists
into a definite maxim of sound health. Thus we are told (a) that one should
always use medicinal substances in jewels® consecrated by charms or mantras.
(£) One should never wear gems that have black or red spots.’
(7) Gems found in the Gandaka* river are natural images, and need not
be given to the sculptor to try his skill upon. And we are told that, whereas
in the case of images constructed by artists one should thoroughly examine
their parts and proportions according to the canons of Silpasdsttas , these
and other natural stones should not be examined at ail.
(8) Gems never lose their natural attributes. These cannot deteriorate.
But pearls and corals can. It is only the wickedness of kings* that leads to
fluctuation in their exchange-values.
1 Sukra IV, ii, 109-110.
a Sukra IV, ii, 129, Oomeda is the exception. It is not to be weighed, being very insig¬
nificant. The standard of measurements oi precious stones is given iu Sukra IV, ii, 130-133.
a Sukra III, 198-194.
4 Amedhy&dapi Kftnchanam,
Nichadapyuttamft vidyft Stri ratnam duskulfidapi.
• Sukra IY, ii, 101-108.
• Sukra 111, 8-9.
f Sukra 1Y, iv,< 807-808. Such other nataral images are Vanalinga*, Chandrakfiutaa,
" Sukra IV, ii, 115416.
• Sukra IY, ii, 156.
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Section io.
The Doctrine of Nine Gems .
Nine is a mystic number like seven. In Indian thought we have the
tradition of nine planets, nine gems, nine nights (called navardtra ,* meaning
thereby the sacrificial rife that is finished in nine days or nights), nine rasas
(or feelings and emotions, e,g, y amorous, ludicrous, pathetic, vehement, heroic,
terrific, loathsome, absurd, and peaceful, according to Hindu canons of
literary art), the nine lak$anas (or marks of Brahma) according to Ved&nta
Paribhasa, ‘the nine Saktis (or energies), the nine castes (of the Sudra order,
according to Pardiara Samhita), the nine doors (e.g. t two eyes, mouth, etc.,
of the human organism), the nine islands of the Ganges (which, according
to the Vaisnava poet, Narahari Dasa, formed the site of what in later times
has been Navadvipa or Nadia, the land of Chaitanya), also the nine tests
of Kulinism propounded by king Ballala Sen of Bengal (iath cent.).
The doctrine of nine gems, like that of the seven metals, has an
interesting history. Indian tradition has taken the nine gems both literally
and metaphorically. In this latter aspect we have it when we refer to the
strong popular notion about the “ Navaratna ” * of the court of Vikramdditya.
The legends of Vikramdditya cycle, like those connected with Alexander,
Arthur and Charlemagne in European literature, refer to things that are
half-historical, half-mythical. The hero himself, round whom the romances
have grown, has not yet been indentified. Some of the incidents connected
with Vikram&dityan tradition have in these days been ascribed to Samudra-
gupta, the Indian Napoleon, in whose conquest of the four quarters of India,
scholars have seen the historic counterpart of the Kaliddsic hero Raghu’s
Digvijaya . We know the age of Samudragupta (4th cent. A.D.), or for
the matter of that, of the Vikramdditya of legendary fame, to be one of the
most glorious epochs of Hindu culture, one of the Augustan ages of Indian
literature. There can be no objection, therefore, to regarding this Gupta
monarch as the patron of several groups of nine celebrated intellectual giants,
1 See the word Navaratna in the Bengali Vitiuxiko§a (Encyclopaedia Indica) edited by
Mr. Nagendranath Vasa, Vol. IX, pp. 053-657 (First Edition, 1898). This Volume gives
several words beginning with nava or nine, which are important as testifying to the
tradition. The word Navanavalc a occurs in Daksa Samhit& (III; 3) as a mnemonic for
nine groups or classes of householder’s duties, each consisting of nine functions. Thus
we have nine amrita8 or sweet functions, nine gifts, nine duties, nine forbidden things,
nine secret activities, nine successful functions, nine failures, nine public activities,
and nine things (not to be given away).
* These are Dhanvantari (the physician), Ksapanaka (the philologist), Amarasimha
(the lexicographer), Sanku (the elocutionist),Vetfilabhatta (the necromancer), Ghatakarpara
(the Politician), K&lidasa (the poet), Var&hatnihira (the astronomer), and Vararuchi
(the grammarian of Pr&krit languages). The couplet containing the names of the nine
luminaries of Vikramaditya’s court is found in the last chapter of Jyotirvidabhara'W
by the astrologer, named K&lid&sa (13th century).
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Who are figuratively known as the Navatatna .* But Indian chronology cannot
as yet bear out the tradition that the great luminaries included in the term
Navaratna ever shone in the intellectual firmament of India at one and the
same time. To take only two instances. If the Gupta monarchs were the
patrons of Kfllidflsa,* he must be placed between the 4th and 5th century. But
Varflhamihira, the astronomer, is now known to have flourished in the sixth
century.
Under these circumstances, the easiest explanation would of course be to
ascribe the origin of the tradition to the desire of the people for a.convenient
mnemonic grouping together the greatest makers of national literature, art,
and science through the ages, long after the great masters had played their
part on the world’s stage. The traditions of the seven wise men of Greece and
the seven Magi of Persia afford instances of such convenient groupings of men
who have lived, if they were really men of flesh and blood, ages apart from
each other.
It is posterity that arranges, classifies, and systematises the exploits of
the predecessors. Human memory in reconstructing the history of past
generations through the dim vistas of folklores, traditions, myths and fables
obliterates 3 the sharp edges of temporal and local differences ; and the result
is a well-rounded * system,’ a cleverly assorted * Noah’s ark,’ a sweet company
of 'strange bed-fellows' and a glib enumeration of facts and ‘things that
never were on sea or land.' Such latter-day recounting and reconstruction
of the deeds of the founders of a people’s greatness as are improvised for
the purpose of helping the national memory and aid in the promotion of
race-consciousness are not, however, without deep historical and sociological
significance. For these traditions are, at any rate, replete with the associations
of the epochs in which they were made and must bear the impress of the
general features of the culture of the day.
Thus the metaphorical use of the doctrine of nine gems in Indian tradi¬
tional thought must be ascribed to an epoch which has long been used to the
idea of nine gems literally speaking. The philosophy and history of the
metaphorical use must follow the philosophy and history of the tradition
regarding the actual stones of the mother-earth.
The enumeration and classification of precious stones, however, have not
been uniform in Indian mineralogical literature. The tradition recorded in
1 See the discussion in Prof. Wilson’s Vij tu Purd m (1884) Vol. I. Preface pages
vii—ix.
• Pandit R&mavatftra SarmA S&hity&ohftryya, M. A., Prefessor of Patna College,
Baukipur, and Dr. Bloch have proved that the nnthor of liaghuvamaam and KumAraaambhu -
vam flourished during the reign of Chandragupta II and Kum&rngupta. For an account of
covert references to the Gupta Emperors, see the late Mr. Harinath Dey’s English Intro¬
duction to the Bengali work on KalidAsa by Pandit R6jendran&th Vidy&bhushan (1008).
* According to tradition Ksapanaka and Araarasimha were probably Jainas, KftHd&sa
belonged to the agricultural caste and Ghatakarpara was a potter, and so on.
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Sukraniti about (i) the nine mahdratnas or great jewels (2) their grouping
in order of merit into four classes, eg., (a) Sresthatara or par excellence, (b)
S rest ha or high class, (c) Madhyama or middling and ( d) Nicha or inferior, and
(3) the astral or mystical connexion of each with one of the nine deities presid¬
ing over, or apotheosised out of, the nine planets, is only one phase in the
history of Hindu ideas about precious stones and jewels. It may be possible
to fix the age of certain passages of the Nitisdstra of the philosophers of the
Sukra cycle by tracing the history of this doctrine of nine gems.
From the close connexion of the nine gems with the nine planets it may be
presumed at the outset that the origin of the tradition is to be traced to the idea
of navagraha in the history of Hindu Astronomy. In jhe following account,
therefore, we have to take note of two things :
(1) Changes in the ideas about the enumeration, classification, &c., of
precious gems: (a) as navaratna , and ( b) as nava mahdratna .
(2) History of the navagraha or nine planets: (a) as members of the
celestial system and (6) as influencing things mundane, specially as presiding
over the gems.
(a) Vtdic Literature .
In our account of the history of Indian literature on gems we have alluded
to the reference in the Vedas. But information is mostly indefinite and vague.
It is only the pearls that have been distinctly mentioned, and an account of
their origin given. And though jewels, like metals, are used with charms and
incantations against the malevolent influences in enemies and demons, we do
not meet with any trace of the connexion that exists between gems and the
deities, whether powers of nature or planets and stars of the sky.
But Vedic literature is important in the history of Indian mineralogy from
at least one point. We have seen that in the Vedas the generic word for metals
is not dhdtu, but ayas , or loha. So also the gems and jewels, whether meaning
thereby pearls or diamonds, are generally referred to not as ratnas , but as
manis , though the word ratna does occur in the Rig Veda .
(£) Ayurvedic Literature .
This word mani for gems holds the ground for long. In Ayurvedic
literature we find Charaka and Susruta using this term. In the introductory
chapter of his work Charaka mentions manis among the drugs pertaining to
the earth. We have noticed above that no gem* has been enumerated by name
1 Prof. Yoges Chandra Kay in his learned work in Bengali on the Astronomy and
Astronomers of the Hindus testifies to the belief of the people in Vedic times in the
influences of stars and planets on haman life. “ The propitiation of the uavagralui or nine
planets has been sanctioned in the Parinista of Sama Veda."
At least about 1000 B.C. the fact that the movements of the stars governed the fate of
men on earth was understood and explained. (See p. 45—Edition 1918). But no definite
connexion of stars with jewels or metals is suggested.
2 See Charaka Samhitd , Sanskrit Text, p. 7 (Edited by Kavirfijas Sen, Calcutta).
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in the ChUrdka Samhitd. So this work also, like Vedic literature, does not
throw much light on the doctrine of nine gems.
The information supplied by Susruta is a little more definite. He also uses
the term mani and not ratna , and in the chapter on Food and Drinks in
the Sutrasthana section of the Samhita gives the medicinal properties of six
gems* only. These are mukta (pearls), vidruma (coral), vajra (diamond), indra
(sapphire), vaiduryya (chrysoberyl) and sphatika (crystal).
The word ratna must have been always familiar in literary circles, Vedic
and post-Vedic. Long before the days of Kalidasa, who uses the word frequently,
Varahamihira, who refers to many previous Ratnasdstras t and Amarsimha, the
lexicographer, who arje generally supposed to have flourished between the 4th
and 6th century A.D., the gems and precious stones have been referred to by
convertible terms, mani and ratna.
It would thus appear that the word ratna as a technical term used in
scientific treatises has had a longer history than dhdtu which, however, as a
name of metals, is old enough. The term loha has held the ground for a longer
period—even in works like Rasaratna-samuchchaya of the 14th century. But the
term mani has allowed its rival ratna 1 to flourish parallel to itself and gra¬
dually supersede it ever since the times of Buddha, the Epics and earlier
Pur&pas.
(c) Varahamihira .
Besides Susruta , the only important work that supplies positive informa¬
tion on the enumeration and classification of ratnas or manis during the classical
period* is that scientific work of the sixth century, the Brihat Samhitd of
Varahamihira. This astronomer like, his predecessors of 1000-1500 years ago,
fully believes in the mundane influences of the planets and their movements
and begins his work with the following words fathered upon the sage Garga :
“ That prince meets with ruin who does not support a Jyotisaka well-versed in
all the divisions and sub-divisions of Samhita, and in Horoscopy and Astro¬
nomy. * * * If there were no Jyotisakas, the muhurtas, the tithis, the
naksatras * * would go wrong. * * * He who loves prosperity ought
1 Susruta Samhitd Edited by Kavirajas Devendra Nath Sen and Upendra Nath Sen
(1900) pp. 221-222. Susruta knows of other ma ns as the compound ending in adi or “ etc”
implies; but perhaps does not mention them as they are not much used in medicine.
Thus, as Dr. Dutt says in the Materia Medica of the Hindus: “ of the precious stones,
diamond, pearl, and coral only are much used in medicine. The rest are rarely used or not
used at all,” p. 92, (Edition of 1900).
7 Messrs. Macdonell and Keith consider the word to denote any precious object in
Rigveda, not necessarily a jewel, as later. Vedic Index- II, 199. The older word ma n seems
to be more generic, rafna is the word for more precious substances. The word ma\ii may
be taken more widely, in which sense it would include metals on the one hand, and gems
on the other.
• There has been very little critical study in the literature of this period, and very
few materials of a historical or sociological character are at present available.
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not to live in a country devoid of a Jyotisaka. The Jyotisaka 1 forms as it
were the eye of the land.”
Varaha then describes the seven planets and the Rahu, but does not
mention the Ketu, the ninth planet. In treating of the influences of the planets
Varaha does not notice the connexion that may possibly exist between the
grahas and the ratnas .
When, however, towards the close of his work, he notices the gems enu¬
merating them and describing their characteristics, he does this not because
these have any natural relationship with the gems of the firmament, but because,
like these celestial orbs, and so many other things in the universe, viz., trees,
animals, earthquakes, clouds, &c., they independently govern the destiny of man¬
kind. According to Varahamihira, whatever directly or indirectly affects human
welfare are important items and cannot be neglected in that aspect of Jyotisa
Sastra which is being dealt with in Brihat Samhita . The planets have been
discussed because they influence man’s destiny. So also the meteorological,
agricultural and other phenomena have commanded his attention. The same
reasons demand of him space for the jewels and precious stones. Varaha has
nothing to do with the propitiation of the planets and does not care to study
the gems* in their special relations to the planets.
Varaha has mentioned 22 gems, but describes only four in detail(1)
Diamond, (2) Pearls, (3) Rubies, (4) Emeralds. And he treats of the influences
of these as affecting social welfare.
The object of Varaha in introducing the subject of gems* in the astronomi¬
cal work is set forth by him at the outset: “ A good gem brings prosperity to
the king and a bad one brings misery. It is therefore necessary to examine
the properties of gems with the help of persons learned in the science ; for a
person’s fortune depends upon the gems he possesses. Elephants, horses and
women possessed of excellent virtues are also known as gems ; but diamonds
and the like gems which are to be treated of in this chapter are stones and the
like, possessed of many excellent qualities.”
The treatment of gems in Brihat Samhita is thus quite independent of
all astronomical ideas explained by the author in his last two works, Pancha -
siddhdntika and Brihajjdtaka , as well as in certain portions of this work also.
The author mentions the special characteristics of such pieces of diamonds and
1 Varfiha goes on ; “ Even the Mlechchhas and Yavanas who have well-studied the
science are respected as Risis,” pp. 10-11. Translation of Mr. Chidatnbram Iyer, B. A.,
Founder of Tiravadi Jotistantra 8abha (Madura, 1884).
* See Iyer’s Brihat SamhitA XXXIII-XXXVI (pp. 184-174).
* In a sense Brihat Samhitd is a socio-economic treatise dealing with the manner
in which the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere of the globe affect human condi¬
tions, rather than an astronomical, geographical or botanical work. It is thus to a certain
extent allied to Artharistra, and closely resembles Yukti-kalpataru which is perhaps
based upon it.
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pearls as are sacred to Indra, Yama, Visgu, Varugaand Agni, but refers to no
species as the favourites of the sun or moon, etc.
The great astronomical landmark of the 6th century, therefore, does not
throw any light on any one of the several problems connected with the Doctrine
of Nine Gems . We know only that the term ratna is established and that the
planets influence human beings.
And this is almost where Vedic literature left us.
(d) The Puranas.
The evidence of Amarakosa, the lexicon, is not much useful. AgnipurAna
(of the 8th century?) mentions many gems, but describes only eight: vajra, mara-
kata, padmarftga or m&nikya (oriental ruby), uruvinda (corundum), saugan-
dhika (spinel), lpukta, indranlla, and vaidurrya. This list differs from that in
Sukra by taking corundum and spinel, but rejecting coral, agate, topaz.
Twelve gems are enumerated in the Garu#apurdna (9th cent.?). Nine gems
are mentioned as principal in the two works that follow: (1) Agastyamatam
(10th century?) and (2) Visgudharmottarapur&na (10th cent.?). Each of these
treatises enumerates more than nine gems, but the first is important as having
for the first time referred to the use of nine gems 1 for the propitiation of the
nine planets, and the second as having enumerated the same gems as mahdratnas
that are mentioned by Sukra. These two works thus supply two important
factors contributing to the growth of the doctrine of nine gems, that is to be
found in Sukranlti, viz. t (1) the idea that nine gems are sacred to nine grahas,
and (2) the classification or appreciation of the same gems as nine ‘ great jewels.*
(e) Sripati , the astronomer.
The idea of navagraha must therefore be traced to some astronomical*
treatise between Brihat Samhitd and Agastyamatam. That work is the Jyotisa -
ratnamald of Sripati, who flourished between the ages of the famous astrono¬
mers Brahmagupta (7th cent.), and Bhaskaracharyya (nth and 12th cent.).
In this treatise there is the mention of nine gems to be used in propitiating the
nine planets. But Sripati’s other work, Jdtakapaddhati, which also deals with the
influences of planets on human beings mentions only seven planets.* In Sripati,
therefore, we find both the old and the new ideas about the number and influ¬
ences of planets. This self-contradiction and inconsistency are to be explained
by the fact that in his time the prevalent notion about nine planets and the
1 Ifc gives the tests of only five gems. See the Text edited by Dr. Rfimdftsa Sen. The
order of consecration of gems to planets followed in this work is the same as in Sukranlti,
though the interpretation of the mahftratna varies.
* See the Bengali work, Astronomy and Astronomers of the Bindus t by Prof. Yoges
Chandra Ray, pp. 78-10J (Edition, 1903).
* See Sripatipaddhati , slokas 9, chapter III (Edition of Nirnaya Sigara Press,
Bombay, 1903), p. 8.
“ Mars * the Moon and Saturn have strength by night. Jupiter, the Sun, and Venus
have potency by day. Mercury is strong at all times, ”
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utility of worshipping them especially by putting on gems was too powerful to
be resisted. He had to incorporate in his second work what he had rejected as
unscientific in his first.
Sripati’s date 1 has not been fixed beyond doubt. He may be taken to
have flourished about the ioth century, in fact, to have been almost a contem¬
porary of the authors of Agastyamatam and Visqudharmottarapur&na. These
two works as well as Jyotisaratnam&Id were produced in an atmosphere of the
same ideas regarding gems, planets and the allied topics.
Sripati’s work is important from another standpoint also. The Jyotfia-
ratnamdld supplies the full astronomical text of the Doctrine of Navaratna that
has been utilised in tolo for the mineralogical section of the Nitisdslra of
Sukr&ch&ryya. The same nine gems (but not called Mahdratnas) and the same
system of consecration of each to the planets, the same system of nomencla¬
ture are to be found in both,* Thus, according to Sripati, people should
put on the ruby for the sun, pearl for the moon, coral for Mars, emerald for
Mercury, topaz for Jupiter, diamond for Venus, sapphire for Saturn, gomeda for
R&hu, and vaiduryya for Ketu. This corresponds exactly to what Sukrft-
chdryya says in lines 84-92 of section ii of Chapter IV. The same system of
consecration'is followed in the astronomical work, Jataka-Pdrij&ta, which devotes
the whole second chapter to a discussion of the nature and properties of planets.
It may be remarked here that the colour and lustre attributed to the nine
planetary deities in the hymns called Navagrahadhydna fit in exactly with
those described in Sukranlti as pertaining to the gems. Again, the images of
Navagraha found at Konaraka and near Bhuvaneswara in Orissa are said to
belong to temples not earlier than the ioth century. 9 This is Dr. RajendraUl
Mitra’s testimony in the Antiquities of Orissa. The hymns, the images, the
temples, the astrological calculations as well as the evidences of Ratnas&stras—
all point to the Doctrine of Navaratna not being older than the ioth century.
(/) Subsequent Literature.
Of the subsequent literature on the subject, Yukti-kalpataru is an important
landmark. But though it is based on Garu$a, Agastya and Visnudharmotlara %
and though it gives details relating to enumeration, characteristics and prices
of the gems, it does not supply valuable information regarding the doctrine of
nine gems, as it does not treat of their astral connexions at all.
So also most of the works of the 12th and 14th centuries are not important
for our purposes. But Rasaratna-samuchchaya of the 13th-14th century,
1 For a discussion of dates, see Prof. Ray’s Astronomy of the Hindus .
* But Sripati does not use the word mahtiratna . Vijnudharmottara uses the word
maMratna , but his nine mah&ratnas are not the same as those of Sukra. If 8ripati had
taken the word t nahdratna from Vishnudh, his work would have been the original proto¬
type of SukranitL As it is, it is the earliest authority for the verse in Rasaratna-samuch•
haya about Navaratna .
* See the chapter on Oraha in Prof. Ray’s Astronomy of the Hindus .
15
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which is a very important document in the literature on metals, mentions in
Chapter IV, 5, that Mdgikya, muktd, vidruma (iarkqya, <>., emerald)) puspa,
vidura (diamond), nlla (sapphire), gomeda and viduraka are successively
the ratnas of the nine planets. With the exception of the new terms used in
this verse, Rasaratna-samuchchaya 1 follows exactly the system in Sukraniti.
This work mentions other gems as well, but regards these nine as the navaratna
par excellence. The only point in which this differs from Sukraniti is that it does
not apply the term mahdralm to these nine gems, The work thus fully agrees
with Sripati’s Jyotisa-Ratnamdld (ioth-nth cent.).
We now come down to Bhdvaprakdsa of the 16th century. This work,
like the one just described, continues the full tradition originating in the astro¬
logical, religious and socio-economic literature of the 9th and 10th centuries.
The Rdjanighantu * of the 17th century also mentions the same nine gems as
sacred to the same planets.
But the classification of navaratnas or nine gems into grades adopted in
these two works differs from that in Sukraniti. Sukracharyya calls all the
nine gems by the name of mahdratnas. But Bhdvaprakdsa * and the Rdjani¬
ghantu mention five of them only as mahdratnas and call the rest uparalnas
(inferior gems).
(g) Recapitulation.
The historical inquiry into the doctrine of nine gems leads to the
following conclusions about the age of the section in Sukraniti dealing with
gems:
1. The Sukra authors do not display astrological conceptions prior to or
even contemporaneous with, those of Vardhamihira (6th cent. A.D.).
2. The doctrine embodied in Sukraniti bears the influence of the follow¬
ing ideas:
(i) The enumeration and appreciation of gems as nine mahdratnas 4
adopted by the author of Vi^nudharmottarapurd^a (10th cent ?) who quotes
Garu$a.
(ii) The system of consecration of the nine gems (not necessarily
mahdratnas) to the nine planets followed in Agastyamatam (which is probably
earlier than Visiiudharmottara, but belongs to the same age); as well as in
Rasaratna-samuchchaya.
1 See Sanskrit Text of the work edited and published by the Anand&sram, Poona,
pages 10-12.
* See the Hindi Edition (Benares), p. 140.
4 See Viswakosa (Vasu’s) Vol. IX, (navaratna).
4 Nine gems are mentioned in (I) Agastya, (2) Vi§nudharmottara, (3) Jyotifaratna-
m&U, (4) Sukraniti, (5) Hasaratna-eamnchchaya, (0) Bhdvaprakdsa, (7) Rdjanighantu.
Nine mahdratnas are mentioned only in (1) Vifnudharmottara and (2) Sukraniti;
but the list is not the same in the two works. See the original text of Vi§nudharmottara
quoted in Dr. Sen’s Rutnarahatya-
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(iii) The recognition of R&hu and Ketu as the two additional Grahas
who should be worshipped along with the old seven, first noticed in the
second work of the astrologer, Srlpati, which, however, he had ignored in his
earlier work.
3. The doctrine is certainly older than the tradition embodied in
Bh&vaprak&sa and Rajanighantu (16th and 17th cent.).
4. The doctrine in all particulars cannot be traced to any work on the
subject, and has not been copied in toto in any work that we know of. Sukranlti
is sui generis in this respect.
The date of the second work of Sripati, vis., Jyotisaralnamdld may thus
be assigned to be the extreme upward limit of the Doctrine of Navaratna,
as it contains the first literary evidence of Navagraha . This must be placed
sometime in the 10th century A.D.
The mineralogical section of Sukranlti thus yields two furthest limits
of chronology: (ij the 10th century—furnished by the doctrine of nine gems,
and (2) the 14th century—furnished by the doctrine of seven metals.
Ihere is one difficulty that remains to be explained. If the doctrine of nine
planets be the basis of the doctrine of nine gems, we might expect also a
doctrine of nine metals. But, though Sukraniti mentions altogether nine
metals, it recognises only seven as principal. Or, if the doctrine of seven
metals has something to do with the original seven planets, we might expect
a corresponding Doctrine of Seven Gems as well. But in India the metals
seem to have had no connexion with planets even up to 14th century, as has
been discussed in the section on the doctrine of seven metals.
Section ii.
7 he Economic Mineralogy of Sukrdchdryya's India .
I he Mahdratnas .
Sukr&charyya divides the nine great gen?s into the following four
classes in order of merit
(1) Vajra, being Sresthafara, by far the best;
(2) Good or Sreqtha: (i) Marakata, (ii) Manikya, (iii) Mukta;
(3) Middling or Madhyama : (i) Indranlla, (ii) Pusyaraga, (iii) Vaiduryya;
(4) Inferior or Nlcha : (i) Gomeda, (ii) Vidruma or Pravala.
#. Vajra or Diamond.
This gem is the favourite of the poet, vis., Sukra 1 who is the preceptor of
the Asuras and the author of our Nltisdstra . It is very transparent and has
the lustre of the star.
This is the best gem.* The popular notion about it is that the woman*
who wants a son should never wear a diamond. This is perhaps one of the hard
\ Sukra IV, ii, 89, * Sukra IV, ii, 98. > Sukra IV, 105.
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substances which are to be used in cutting 1 or writing upon gems. But it is
to be noted that only pearls and corals can be thus incised.
The value of this gem in terms of “ money” is given below
(1) “ The price* of one whole diamond weighing one rati, but wide in extent, is
five suvarnas or gold coins.
(2) “ The price is five times (ie., twenty-five gold coins), if it be heavier than
one rati and superior in extent.
(8) “ The price is to be less and less according as the quality falls off."
This is according to the general theory that small weight but large bulk
are the conditions of the high worth of jewels. The value may be expressed
in terms of rati in the following way : 41 Eight ratis 9 make one m&sa, ten
mftsfis make one suvarna .’* Thus 8o ratis make i gold coin : therefore 400 ratis
make 5 gold coins. The ratio of diamond to gold, as expressed in the above
extracts, would therefore be 1 to 400; or 11 exchange-value” of diamond is 400
times that of gold.
This general ratio is to be modified by the following considerations :
(1) Other things remaining the same, the exchange-value 4 is (a) one-
third less than the above (which determines the * normal ’ or ( natural ’
value), if the stone be flat-shaped, (6) one-half, if the stone has the colour of
the reddish powder of bricks. [In the general remarks on the value of gems
we noticed that this colour is not appreciated.]
(2) Other things remaining the same, the 1 exchange-value ’ (a) would be
half, if two pieces together 8 weigh one rati ; ( b ) half of this (i>., one-fourth of
the 1 normal ’), if the stones be middling or inferior.
(3) Other thipgs remaining the same, the exchange-value of inferior or
middling qualities would be determined in the following manner: 6 (a) By
multiplying the weight in ratis by nine-sixteenth, (b) By adding together five-
sixteenths and one-thirtieth.
The general rule about the determination of the 1 money-value,* i.e., price
and 1 exchange-value * of diamond is given in the following lines :
(1) The value of diamond is according to its weight in terms of rati. 1
(2) Even in the case of small pieces, the weight 8 has to be considered, not
number (as with other gems).
1 Sukra IV, ii, 109-110, “ The gems cannot be cut or written upon by ii*>n or stones
(diamonds) except pearls and corals." Bee p. 142 of my translation of Sukrantti in the
Sacred Books of the Hindus Series.
* Sukra IV, ii, 184-187
* Sukra IV, ii, 188.
* Sukra IV, ii, 140-142.
* Sukra IV, ii, 148-144.
* Sukra IV, ii, 148-148. Specialists would do well to verify the truth and propriety
of these remarks. The comparative prices given here would be discussed in the chapters
on the Data of Ancient Indian Economics and Public Finance ,
* Sukra IV, ii, 140-142.
* Sukra IV, ii, 188.
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“ In India diamonds occur over three wide areas: (t) the eastern side of the Deccan
from the Penner to the Sone, (2) the Madras Presidency, especially in Kistna and Qodayari
basins, and (8) Ohutia Nagpore and Central Provinces to Bundelkhand. It is somewhat
remarkable that the Indian diamonds have not as yet been found in what oan be called
their original matrix. * * * None of the Indian diamond fields can, at the present day,
be viewed as of commercial importance, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to identify for
certain, all the localities alluded to by classical writers. ** * India was the first and
for a long period the only source of diamonds known to the European nations. * * *
It appears to have been worn by the nobility of India long anterior to the earliest
European mention of it. * * ♦ Tavernier was perhaps the first European who travellod
over India with the express purpose of inspecting diamond mines."
The legend of the origin of Kohinur * is that it was found in the mines of the
south of India, and was worn by one of the heroes of the Muh&bh&rata , Earns, king of
Anga; this would place it about 5000 years ago, or 8001 B. O. Nothing more of it is heard
till it appears as the property of Vikramftditya, Ac.
#Y. Muktd or Pearls
This is the favourite of the moon, 8 i.e. t presided over by this planetary deity,
and may have red, yellow, white and syfima (swarthy or greenish blue)
colour.
This gem is lower in value than diamond, but superior to the lowest, viz. t
gomeda and vtdruma , as well as to indran\la % pusyardga and vaiduryya , which
are middling stones. One characteristic of this jewel is that it can be written
upon (like corals) by iron or stones. 1 2 * 4
In the section on general remarks we noticed that gems cannot deteriorate
in value except through the wickedness of kings. But pearls and corals are
to be exempted from this generalisation, for they do fade through use 1 in time.
The deterioration comes in naturally.
The following are the sources • of pearls recorded in Sukrantti: (i)
fishes, (2) snakes, (3) conches, (4) boars, (5) bamboos, (6) clouds, (7) oyster-shells.
The greatest amount is said to come from these last.
This last class of pearls is divided into three grades: 8 (1) inferior, (2)
middling and (3) excellent. It is only these pearls, again <>., those derived from
shells as mothers that can be pierced* and hence used in ornaments. Those
coming from others cannot.
1 Dictionary of Economic Products of India, pp. 98-101, Vol. Ill (1890).
2 See Note on the History of the Kohinur Diamond in Handbook of the Manufactures and
Arts of the Punjab. By Baden Powell (1872), pp. 195-201.
•Sukra IV, 11, 85.
4 Sukra IV, 11,109-110.
• Sukra IV, ii, 108.
• Sukra IV, ii, 117-118.
' Sukra IV, ii, 122.
■ Sukra IV, ii, 128. See account of pearl-boring in Baden Powell’s Punjab Mam -
factures , p. 192 (1872).
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And the people of Ceylon 1 can make artificial pearls like those from shells.
One should therefore carefully examine pearls before purchasing them.
The test* is given below: 11 That certainly is not artificial which does not
lose colour by being rubbed with vrihi paddy after having been soaked in hot
saline water during the night. If it remains very bright it is really derived
from shells. If it has middling lustre, it is otherwise.”
The Garudapurdna * and Yukti-kalpataru 4 also describe the industry of the
Ceylonese in artificial Pearl-manufacture. Brihat Saiphitd, Garudapurdna and
Yukti-kalpataru mention Ceylon, Pdralaukika, SaurAstra (Guzrat), Tamraparrii
(Malabar), Persia, Kouvera, PAndyavMaka, and Haimadesa as the eight regions
where oyster-pearls are found. According to Agastyamatam the places are
Ceylon, Arabia, Persia, and Barbara (North Africa).
The following list of pearls is given in order of excellence, 1 the first
being the best:—
(a) As regards layers or skins :
(1) Those with seven skins or coverings.
(2) Those with, five or four skins.
(3) Those with three or two skins.
( b) As regards colour : (?)
(1) Red.
(2) Yellow.
(3) White.
(4) Black.
The following is the order of age, 6 the first being the oldest: (?)
(1) Yellow.
(2) Red.
(3) White.
(4) Black.
Both these lists apply only to the pearls derived from oyster-shells.
In connexion with the value of pearls the following things
are to be noted :
(1) The rati for the measurement’ of pearls is not the same as that for
diamond and other stones. For all gems twenty Ksumdsmakz one rati; but for
pearls three ratis are made by four Krisnalas ; and twenty-four ratis make
one Ratnatanka.
» Sukra IV, ii, 124-125.
2 Sukra IV, ii, 126-128. Specialists may verify it.
3 Quoted by Prof. Yoges Chandra Ray in Rutnaparik^6 .
4 Quoted by Dr. R&madasa Sen in Ratnarahasya.
• Sukra IV, ii, 119-120. The correctness of the order may be tested by specialists.
• Sukra IV, ii, 121.
• Sukra IV, ii, *80-132 t
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Now as 4 tankas 1 * make i tola of gold, 96 ratis (Pearl-standard) make 1
tola of gold.
(2) The exchange-value of pearls varies according as the substance is
of inferior, middling, and superior grades. 3
(3) The standard is either diamond* or gold. 4 *
The following are the methods prescribed for the calculation of the
prices of pearls
(а) According to Diamond-standard :
(1) If the pearl is of more than a thousand ratis in weight, then for
every hundred ratis t the value would be the same as of a diamond, less three
hundred, divided by sixteen. (?)
(2) If the pearl is more than hundred ratis in weight, then from every
hundred ratis deduct twenty ratis , and after such deduction the value of each
rati would be the same as that of the diamond of the first class. Thus if the
weight of pearls be 200 ratis t the price will be calculated after a deduction
of 20 per cent, from the weight, upon the weight of 160 ratis .
( б ) According to the Gold-standard :
Multiply the weight 6 of the pearls in ratis by 13! and divide the product
by 24, the quotient will be the value of the pearl in so many ratis of gold.
The following are some general remarks’ about the worth of pearls:
(1) The best pearls are valued at half the price of gold.
(2) The best pearls are the red, yellow, round and white.
(3) The worst are the flat ones and those having the lustre of
powdered bricks.
(4) The rest are middling.
“ Taticorin has been celebrated for its pearl-fishery* from a remote date, and as
regards comparatively modern times, Friar Jordanns, a Missionary Bishop, who visited
India about the year 1380, tells ns that as many as 8,000 boats were then engaged in the
pearl-fisheries of Tinnevelly and Ceylon.”
Megasthenes 7 account of Indian Pearls can be gleaned from Arrian’s Indica
(VII—IX) and Pliny’s Natural History (IX, 55). From the Bengali translation
of the Greek original of Megasthenes by Prof. Guha we gather that pearl-fishery
was only an application of the ordinary principles of the Fishing Industry.
It was known that the oyster shells or the mothers-of-pearls lived in shoals like
fishes, and resembled the community of bees with a ruling queen. If the chief
1 Sukra IV, ii, 188. • Sukra IV, ii, 152-154.
* Sukra IV, ii, 149. # Sukra IV, ii, 166-167.
* Snkra IV, ii, 149-151. 7 Snkra IV, ii, 168-170.
4 Snkra IV, ii, 166-170.
* Pearl and Chank Fisheries of the Gulf of Mannar, by Thurston, Superintendent,
Madras Government Museum, p. 9.
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could be caught the whole group of oysters fell an easy prey. The shells
were kept in a vessel full of salts for some time until the fleshy portion
decomposed of itself. The bony portion, the pearls, was then ready for use.
According to Megasthenes the value of pearls was equSl to three times
that of pure gold of the same weight.
iii. Mdnikya or Ruby .
This is the sun’s favourite , 1 of red colour, and lias the bright lustre of
indragopa insect. This belongs to the class of gems intermediate* between
vajra , the best, and the middling ones. It is, therefore, appreciated equally with
pearls and emeralds. The comparative values are not stated. We are told simply,
as we have seen, that the emerald, if it is good, deserves the price of a ruby.*
There is one more information about mdnikya , vie. t that regarding padmardga ,*
which is said to be one of its varieties and has the lustre of red lotus.
“ The name* is applied by lapidaries and jewellers to two distinct minerals—the true
or oriental ruby and spinel ruby. The former may be called a red variety of corundum,
is alnminic oxide. The spinel rnby is an alominate of magnesium. * * * The ruby receives
the name “ oriental ” from the fact of the finest red and violet varieties being obtained
from Ceylon, Ava and other parts of the Bast. ”
M The delicate* rose pink variety of spinel, known as balas rnby, was worked for
centuries in Badakshan. In the time of Marco Polo the mines were wholly in the hands
of the king of Balkh.
“ The chief sources, however, both of the oriental and the spinel ruby are the mines
of Upper Burma. * * * The ruby mines of Burma weie first made known by European
travellers towards the end of the fifteenth century * ,* * rubies come next in value to
diamonds. * * Like most other jewels, rubies have some fancied talismanic virtues
attached to them. In many parts of India a bracelet formed of nine gems, of which the
ruby is one, is supposed to protect the wearer from the evil eyo. ”
tv. Pdchl , Marakata , Gdrutmata or Emerald,
This is the favourite of the planetary deity Mercury/ It has the lustre
of the feathers of the peacock or of the chdsha (nilakaqfha) bird.
This belongs to the class of pearls and mdnikya , # *>., just inferior to the
vajra or diamond and superior to the middling class. If the gdrutmata is good,
it deserves the price of a mfinikya or ruby. *
According to Garut/apurdna and Agastyamatam the source of this gem
is Turkey. According to Ratnasamgraha it is Mlechchhadesa.
* Sukra IV, ii, 84.
» Sukra IV, ii, 98-95.
» Sukra IV, ii, 157.
4 Sukra IV, ii, 104
* Encyclopaedia BriUnnica— Chemistry.
* Dictionary of the Economic Products of India (189fi), Vol. VI, Part I, pp. 584-589.
* Sukra IV, ii, 87.
* Sukra IV, ii, 98-95.
* Sukra IV, ii, 157.
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v. lndranXla or Sapphire.
This is the Saturn's favourite , 1 is not white, but has the colour of deep
clouds (blue). This belongs to the madhyama * or middling class of gems, like
pufyar&ga and vaiduryya , #>., just superior to the lowest class comprising
gomeda and pravdla. The value of indranlla is perhaps the same as that of
gold, as can be guessed from the following: 11 The pu$yardga weghing one
rati deserves half the price of indranila % or gold (of the same weight).
M It is olassed 4 with * gems or precious stones' in contradistinction to the 4 inferior
gems.’ It is a bine transparent variety of corundum (Al a O t ) and differs from the oriental
ruby merely in its colour. * * * Sapphires of various colours occur in India. * * *
Sapphire is found along with many other varieties of corundum in the ruby mines of Upper
Burma. * * In Oeylon * * sapphires are found frequently. In 1882 a remarkable
discovery of sapphires was made in Kashmir territory.”
vi. Vaiduryya.
Prof. Yoges Chandra Ray considers this to be chrysoberyl (oriental
cat’s eye), Wilson takes it for lapis lazuli.
This is the Ketu’s favourite , 1 has the lustre of cal’s eyes and has its
particles moving.
Like indranila it belongs to the middling class of gems . 6 That piece whose
three rays are coming out deserves high price.’ Comparative values are not
given.
vii. Pusyardga or Topaz.
This is the favourite of Jupiter 8 and has the brilliancy of gold. It
belongs to the middling class 8 of gems.
The piece weighing one rati deserves, as has been quoted above, half the
price cf gold or sapphire of the same weight . 10
44 It may be defined 11 as a fluosilicate of aluminia (Al a O s Si). * * The oriental
topaz is in reality a yellow sapphire or corundum. Of the occurrence of topaz in India,
Ball says, 44 there appears to be no authentic record, a reported discovery in the basalt
of the Rajmahal hills being open to question. Ceylon, it is believed, yields a not incon¬
siderable proportion of the topaz of commerce.’'
According to Garudapurdna the source is Himalaya; according to Ratna*
$amgraha % it is Karka and Ceylon.
viii. Gomeda.
It is difficult to identify it. It Is agate according to Wilson , 18 but zircon
according to Yoges Chandra Ray. information about this is as meagre as about
coral in Suhraniti.
' Sukra IY, U, 00. a Sukra IY, ii, 96. * Sukra IV, ii, 169.
4 Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, pp. 474-476, Vol. VI, Part II.
• Sukra IV, ii, 92. • Sukra IV, ii, 88.
• Sukra IV, ii, 94. * Sukra IV, ii, 94.
• Sukra IV, ii, 160. 10 Sukra IV, ii, 159.
11 Dictionary of the Economic Products of India (1898), p. 70, Vol. VI, Part IV.
13 Wilson describes it as a stone brought from the Himalaya and the Indus, having
four different colours, e.g., white, pale-yellow, red and dark-blue.
16
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It is the Rfihu’s favourite , 1 and like coral has yellowish red or orange
colour. Like coral again it belongs to the lowest class.* Its value is not* to be
determined by weight like that of all other gems. It does not deserve*
weighing, as it is very low-priced.
The region is Himalaya hnd Sindhu according to Yukti-kalpataru.
ix. Pravd/a, Vidruma or Coral .
This is the favourite gem of Mars * and has yellowish red colour. Like
gomeda, it is one of the lowest ratnas.
It fades through use® in time. Like pearls, corals can be cut or written
upon 1 by iron and stones ( e.g^ diamonds). Corals weighing one tola deserve
half the price of the gold of the same weight . 9
“ In addition * to being used for adornment ornamental corals have been used in
Hindu medicine from a very ancient time and are mentioned by Susruta. Ainslie remarks
that the Tamil practitioners prescribe the red coral when calcined in cases of diabetes
and bleeding piles.”
Section 12.
Miscellaneous,
There are certain substances more or less allied to those dealt with in
this chapter that have been referred to by the authors of the Sukra cycle in their
description of the kalds, the artisans, the industries and the Ordnance Depart¬
ment. These should be noted in an account of the mineralogical data avail¬
able from the Sukrantfi.
One of the general rules for the guidance of kings is that they should
accumulate for future purposes such things as are useful to man. Among these
are mentioned minerals , 10 implements, arms, weapons, gunpowder, vessels, etc.
1. Sulphur,
Sulphur 11 has been mentioned as an ingredient of gunpowder. 1 * The
following are the recipes for this preparation :
(1) Five palas 18 of suvarchi salt (saltpetre), one pala of sulphur, and one
I Sukra IV, ii, 91. • Sukra IV, ii, 129. * Sukra IV, ii, 86.
• Sukra IV, ii, 93-95. 4 Sukra IV, ii, 162. • Sukra IV, ii, 106, 115-116.
T Sukra IV, ii, 109-110. The reader is requested to note the change in the translation
given here from that given on p.l42of the Vol. XIII of the Sacred Boohs 0 / the Hindus Series.
•Sukra IV, ii, 161.
• Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, p. 582, Vol. II (1889).
10 Sukra IV, ii, 60-68.
II The use of sulphur in medicines as copper sulphate, aud iron sulphate (copperas) is
as old as Charaka Sarphitd.
Dr. R&jendral&l Mitra, who discovered the Su krautti in 1876, doubts the authenticity
of these lines (vide Indo~Aryans , Vol. I, pp. 809-12). But Dr. Gustav Oppert, who edited
and published the Text for the Madras Government in 1882, proves by quotations from
Vedas, Asoka’s Edicts &c., that “ firearms and gunpowder existed in Ancient India.” See
his preface to Sukraniti published by Madras Government,* also his essays on the authen¬
ticity of Sukraniti, and Firearms and weapons in Ancient India published by Higginbotham
& Co., Madras (1880),
>» Sukra IV, vii, 400-404.
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Pala of charcoal from the wood of arha (Calotropis gigantea), snuhi (Euphorbia
neriifolia) and other trees burnt in a manner that prevents the escape of smoke
have to.be purified, powdered, and mixed together, then dissolved in the juices
of snuhi, arka, and garlic (Allium sativum), then dried up by heat, and finally
powdered like sugar.
(2) Six or four parts 1 of saltpetre may also be used in the preparation
of gunpowder. Sulphur and charcoal would remain the same.
(3) Experts make gunpowders in various ways* and of white and other
colours according to the relative quantities of constituents:—Charcoal, sulphur,
saltpetre, stones, haritdl (orpiment)* lead, htngul , iron calces (oxides), camphor,
jatu (lac), indigo, juice of sarala tree (Pinus longifolia).
The use of salts, e.g, t Suvarchi or saltpetre, 4 has been referred to in the
above recipes.
The mention of sulphur introduces us to a fact of great economic
importance, and furnishes a solid basis for interpreting certain phases in the
industrial history of India. 44 Chemical and metallurgical industries/* says
Mr. Holland, Director of the Geological Survey of India,
* are essentially gregarious in their habits. * * * The bye-prodnct is a serious and
indispensable item in the sources of profit, and the failure to utilise bye-products
necessarily involves neglect of the minerals which will not pay to work for the
metal alone.”
The demand for sulphur in ancient India and the consequent supply of it in
response necessarily involved, according to this 4 principle of association* which
is really an aspect of the Doctrine of the 44 Localisation* of Industries,” a good
number of auxiliary and allied industries in mining, metallurgy and manufacture,
utilising the bye-products. The fact that there are no such auxiliary industries in
modern India is the real explanation, according to Mr. Holland, of why a good
many otherwise rich metalliferous ores cannot be worked.
We can easily turn this economic fact of modern times to account in
understanding the industrial situation of the country in by-gone days. Thus
we are led to infer the existence in ancient India, side by side with the sulphur
industry, of all those to which it is a key. Says Mr. Holland :
“ Sulphuric acid is essential for the manufacture of sulphur-phosphates, the purifi¬
cation of mineral oils and the production of ammonium sulphates, various acids, and a host
of minor products; it is a necessary link in the chain of operations involved in the
manufacture of the alkalies, with which are bound up the industries of making soap, glass,
1 Sukra IV, vii, 406-406.
* Sukra IV, vii, 411-415.
3 “ Most of the older Sanskrit MSS. are written on paper prepared with harit&la to
preserve them from the ravages of insects, and this it does most effectually”—Dutt.
Dr. Mitra also describes arsenicised paper in his report on Sanskrit MSS. in the proceed¬
ings of the Asiatic Society for March, 1875.
4 This salt has been mentioned in Churaka Sarphitd and Busruta 8amh.ita also.
* Illustrated in modern Europe by the contiguity of Iron and Coal Industry.
41 Many of the most profitable copper mines in the world could not be worked but for
the demand for sulphur in sulphuric acid manufacture, and for sulphuric acid there
would be no demand but for a string of other chemioal industries in which it is used*”
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piper, oils, dyes, and colouring matters; and as a bye-product it permits the remunerative
smelting of ores whioh it would be impossible otherwise to develop."
Industry in ancient India must therefore have been more richly diversified
than at present. In fact, the extinction of several industries in modern India
is explained by Mr. Holland in the following lines :
“ During the last hundred years the cost of a ton of sulphuric acid in England has been
reduced from £80 to under £2, and it is in consequence of the attendant revolution in
the Europen chemical industries, aided by increased facilities for transport, that in India
the manufactures of alum, copperas, blue vitriol, and alkalies have been all but extermi¬
nated ; that the export trade in nitre has been reduced instead of developed ; that copper
and several other metals are no longer smelted; that the country is robbed every year of
nearly 1,00,000 tons of phosphatio fertilisers, and that it is compelled to pay over H>
million sterling for products obtained in Europe from minerals identical with those
lying idle in India." 1
And this state will continue u until industries arise demanding a sufficient
number of chemical products to complete an economic cycle.”
Exactly the reverse must have been the condition of manufacture and
commerce in ancient India, and for the opposite reasons.
In the Economic Volume* of the Indian Empire , also, in the Imperial
Gazetteer of India Sries , Mr. Holland harps on this decline of ancient chemi¬
cal industries:
“ In this respect India of to-day stands in contrast to the India of a century ago.
The European chemist, armed with the cheap supplies of sulphuric acid and alkali * * * has
been enabled to stamp out, in all but remote localities, the once flourishing native
manufactures of alum, the various alkaline compounds, blue vitriol, copperas, copper,
lead, steel and iron, and seriously to curtail the export trade in nitre and borax. The high
quality of the native-made iron, the early anticipation of the processes” now employed
in Europe for the manufacture of high class steels and the artistic products in copper and
brass gave the country a pro minent position in the ancient metallurgical world, while as a
ohief source of nitre India held a position of peculiar political importance, until less
than forty years ago, the chemical manufacturer of Europe found, among his bye-products,
cheaper and more effective compounds for the manufacture of explosives."
2. Glass .
Rfljendralfll says that the word Kflcha for glass occurs in works consider¬
ably over 2,000 years ; and “ seeing that the Singhalese who borrowed all the
arts of civilised life from the Hindus, make mention, in the Dipavamsa, of a
glass pinnacle, in the 2nd cent. B. C., and of a glass mirror in the 3rd cent.
B. C. (Tennent’s Ceylon I, 454), and Pliny describes the glass of India being
superior to all others from the circumstance of its being made of pounded
crystal it would not be presumptuous to believe that it was in ancient times
used in India in the formation of looking glasses.”
In fndo-Aryans Vol. I, Dr. Rfljendralfll also refers to the knowledge
which the Hindus had of glass as a material for the fabrication of ornaments ;
1 Review of the Mineral Production of India during the years 1898-1908 By T. H.
Holland, F.R.S. (1905), see pp. 7-8,117.
* Chapter III, Mines and Minerals, p. 129 (Oxford, 1907).
* See Hindu Chemistry , YoL II., for Beal’s account of Hindu achievements in chemical
industry.
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but from a passage in the Yukti-kalpataru it appears that it was also used
for drinking cups or tumblers, the physiological effect of drinking water
from vessels of glass being described to be similar to that of vessels made of
crystal.
In Sukranili Glass has been mentioned only once. The making of glass 1
vessels is a hold.
About the antiquity of glass in India, Mr. Jayaswal remarks in reviewing
Dr. Schoffs Periplus for the Modern Review :
“ Glass in India was a manufaotnre long before it became known to Ceylon (3rd
century B.C.,) The Artha-SAstra calls false gems “ glass-gems,” and mentions the manu>
factnre of glass. Pliny’s description that the glass of India was superior to all others,
because it was “ made of pounded crystal'* and because of the discovery made by the
Hindus of the art of colouring crystal, indicates a long previous history of the industry in
this country. Coloured glass was well-known to the Artha-SAstra. The glass-worker,
called at present Maniy&ra, is mentioned by the very name (ManikAra) in the MabAvastu.
The following are the remarks of Dobbs :
44 The manufacture of glass * was known in ancient India as early as 800 B.C., for in
Yajurveda glass is mentioned as one of the articles of which female ornaments were made.
It isalso.noticed in the Mah&bh&rata, and in an old book called the YuktLkalpataru that the
effects on the human system of drinking water out of a glass tumbler are stated to be the
same as those of drinking out of a crystal cup. In more recent times, in the 10th century,
the glass of India is said to have been exported in large quantities to Europe, and in the
north of Italy there is a tradition that the Venetians at one time obtained, if not their
raw glass at least its ingredients, from the plains of Hindusthan.”
Mr. Taw Sein-kaw also bears testimony to the antiquity of Indian pottery,
both glazed and earthen, and to its having influenced the pottery and glassware
of Burma.* 3 “ The ceramic art did not achieve any public recognition in Europe
till the 16th century A. D., but long before that period the pottery of Burma
had become famous.** Ibn Batuta, the celebrated Arabian traveller of the 14th
century, also recorded the fact.
In Yub’s Hobson-Jobsan we have the following:—*
14 In this town of Martaban (now a small village in Amherst district) are made very
large and beautiful porcelain vases, and some of glazed earthenware of a black colour,
which are highly valued among the Moors, and they export them as merchandise.'*
And Mr. Seinkaw observes that Taikkala, one of the most important
seaports of the country governed by the rulers of Martaban*:
44 was colonised, (as the name implies), by the Gaudas of the ancient city of Gour
in Bengal. On the site of this historic TaikkalA, traces of a wall and moat still exist, and
fragments of pottery and glazed tiles are found."
3. Alkalies.
Alkalies also have been mentioned in Sukranili as Kqdras. Thus one of
the 64* arts or holds is the extraction or preparation of alkalies. Government
1 Sukra IV, iii, 191:
• See Monograph on the Pottery and Glass Industries of the North-Western Provinces
and Oudh by Dobbs (1895, Chapter IX, p. 29).
* Monogmph on the Pottery and Glass ware of Burma (1894-95), pp. 2-8,
4 Sukra IV, iii, 150.
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revenue from this chemical industry is declared to be one-half 1 of the produce
after the costs have been met.
4. Stones .
Stones have been refeired to several times. We have just seen that
these may be used as ingredients for gunpowder. Their use in statuary,
iconography, and sculpture has been mentioned by the Sukra authors in their
description of the images of gods. We have already alluded to this in connexion
with metals.
We are told that stones are next in importance to metals in the construction
of images in point of durability,* and superior to all other materials, e.g . 9 sands,
pastes, paints, enamels, earth, wood, &c. The responsiblity of the sculptor,
therefore, is very great. For he must have to be well up in the conventions of
the art. His workmanship would not be appreciated unless it conforms to the
exact rules laid down by the masters of Silpasdstras.
The images that are made of less durable material are not examined by
people very critically, and hence may be executed without particular care. But
stone being a durable material involves on the artist an extra amount of careful¬
ness.
But such stones as are found in hills and rivers may be used for religious
purposes without human art being made to work upon them. Defects of 9
measurement are not to be noticed in such images, e.g. % the natural Vdnalingas
of the Narmadd valley, ChandrakAnta gems, or stones found in the Gandaka
river.
When stone images are constructed the worshippers should observe a rule
with regard to the colour of the material used. 41 The white stone 9 is pre¬
scribed for the Satyayuga as indicating sdttwika type of images, the yellow and
red stones are prescribed for Tret&yuga and Dwaparayuga respectively as
indicating rdjasika type, and the black stones for the Kaliyuga as indicating
tdmasika type. These types of images will be discussed in a subsequent
chapter.
Image worship being a universal feature of Indian religious life, the
industry connected, with stones must be expected to have been a very rich one
in the days of Sukra authors, as in all ages in Indian history. Not in
religious life only, but in other departments of the social life of the people
also, stone-quarrying, stone-carving, stone-inlaying as well as other industries
and fine arts connected with the manipulation of sandstones, building stone,
granite and marble, have played a conspicuous part. Hence in Sukrantti we
find that among the sixty-four, kalds there is one connected with stones. 1
* Sukra IV, ii, 288-85.
* Sukra IV, iv, 160-151.
» Sukra IV, iv, 805-808.
4 Sukra IV, iv, 810-818.
* Sukra IV, ill, 167-108.
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This consists in the art of cleansing, polishing, dyeing, rinsing, &c., of stone
vessels. There is another art also mentioned by Sukr&ch&ryya as being an
auxiliary of Ayurveda. This is the melting and incineration of stones. 1
Again, stone-carvers* are sufficiently important to be recognised by the
statesmen of the Sukra cycle in their enumeration of the artists and artisans
whom the state should “ protect ” by finding suitable employment.
It is stated by Fergusson that there is no stone architecture in India
earlier than the 3rd century B.C. But says Mr. Crosthwaite :*
“The negative fact that no stone architecture previous to Asoka has yet been
discovered, does not justify the positive conclusion arrived at by Fergusson. * * * The
famous S&ran&th stupa and the stupa near Kasia in Gorakhpur are even older than the
8rd century B.O. The excavation of a stupa at Piprahwa in Basti District yielded a casket
bearing an inscription in the character of the 8rd or 4th century B.C. * * * The stone
mason’s art must have existed in India for some centuries before Asoka’s reign. ”
The following refers to Southern India *
u Early stone-carving reached a high degree of perfection, first under the Buddhists
in India and even sometime before it, 4 * * * following the Buddhists each successive Hindu
dynasty left examples of their particular styles. * * * Towards the end of the Hindu
period the Vijayanagara kings were the greatest patrons of stone-carving.
“ The perfection 1 to which the art of stone-carving was carried and the propor¬
tions attained by the industry can be readily, if roughly, gauged by the extent of the
architectural remains still in existence, and the profusion and finish of the ornamental
work with which they are enriched. The proportion which the decorative industry
bore to the constructive defies accurate computation, but judged by European standards
it must have been extraordinarily high. ”
Mr. Vincent Smith* testifies to the skill of Hindu lapidaries :
“ Hindus, as Mr. King observes, were among the earliest of mankind to attain
to mechanical perfection and facility in the treatment of the hardest stones, exe¬
cuting with facility many operations which would baffle the skill of the most expert
modern lapidary; such as boring fine holes with the greatest precision, not merely
through the sardonyx, but even through the sapphire and the ruby. All considerable
collections of Indian antiquities comprise numerous specimens of pierced beads made of
various precious and semi-precious stones, which display the complete mastery of the
old craftsmen over the most different material.”
Regarding the use of stones in the manufacture of sofas, chairs, benches
etc., in Hindu India, the following is quoted from Ifido-Aryans:' ‘‘Of stones,
the gritty sandstone alone was condemned, and the other kinds recommended,
with the proviso that the colour of the stone should correspond with that of
the planet which presided for the time being on the destiny of the person who
1 Sukra IV, iii, 145. ~ ~
* Sukra II, 307-898.
* Monograph on Stone Carving (190fi).
4 Monograph on Stone-carving and Inlaying in Southern India by Rea (1906).
* Stone-carving and Inlaying in the Bombay Presidency by Tupper (1906).
* History of Fine Art, p. 856.
* Sukra I, 252 - 58 .
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was to use the seat; thus when a man happened to be under the influence
of Saturn, he had to use a stone seat of a blue colour, but if Venus happened
to be the presiding planet, a bright yellow stone was the most appropriate.”
Regarding evidences for the treatment of stones in Hindu Architecture and
Sculpture, besides the works of the historians of Indian Art, previously referred
to several times, some of the unpublished collections of private associations
in Bengal deserve a special mention. Such literary bodies are the Bangiya
Sahitya Parisat of Calcutta, Rangpur Sahitya Parisat, Dacca Sahitya Parisat, etc.,
and District Council of National Education, Malda, whose collections 1 of Gau<Ja
and Pandua relics were exhibited by the distinguished antiquarian, Radhes
Chandra Seth, at a conference of the men of letters belonging to North Bengal.
But the most considerable are the recent finds of the Varendra Research Society
in Rajsahi. All these stones have opened up a new field for students of Indian
art-culture and archaeology.
The explorations of this last academy have presented us with some of the
most exquisite specimens of stone images of various Buddhistic and Hindu
gods and goddesses of the Tantric type, which should have a place in
the sculpture-gallery of the nation, as embodying probably the ideals of an yet
unstudied School of Hindu Art. We* have also inscribed stone-pillars and
monuments which reveal altogether unknown facts of the political, economic, and
commercial history of Eastern India in mediaeval times (8th—13th cent). To
quote Mr. Ak$aya Kumar Maitra, the guide and philosopher of the Varendra
school of historical research : “ These and similar inscriptions show at a glance
of what stuff were made the people of old Bengal, who at one time extended
their empire from shore to shore, between the Himalayas on the North and
the Vindhya on the South, and what constituted the high education of the
people of that age.” Further, “although the Pala kings were Buddhists, their
hereditary ministers were all Brahmans. * * * Bhatta Gurava, the builder
of this monument, was not only a pious Brahman, but was also an efficient
minister of state, a valiant warrior, and a poet who used to be looked upon
by his contemporaries as a Valmtki of the Kalik&la
The most important stone pillars brought to prominent notice by this
school of historians are (t) the inscribed GaruQastambha pillar (in Dinajpur), (2)
the inscribed pillar of the Kamboja king—a carved pillar of black basalt (in
Dinajpur), (3) the pillar of the Kaivarta leader—a stone monolith M which may
be looked upon as a finger-post to indicate the decline and fall ” of the Pala
Empire.
Stone-images of Visiju, Durga, Sun-god, Bodhisattva, etc., found by the
Varendra Research Society, as well as other materials in their possession
enable Mr. Maitra to make the following remarks with regard to what may
be proved to be the site of the capital of an old prosperous empire in the
1 See the fall report of the Malda Conference (1911) pablished in Bengali (1918) by
the B&hitya Pari* at of Rangpur.
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modern district of Malda, lying north to south on the east of the river Mahi-
nanda: 11 It was indeed a city of palaces , 1 a city of gardens, and a city of fine
tanks. * * * These suburban areas (including modern Pandua, Kaligr&ma,* and
other modern villages) enjoyed for a long time a great reputation as an import¬
ant centre of the old weaving industry of Bengal. * * * Towards the south
of the great city, there was another suburb, modern Mftdhaipur, still remem¬
bered as one of the traditional centres of Sanskrit education in the Empire
of Gauda under the Hindus, before Nadia asserted its influence. * * * Old
Malda was the port of the city connected with the Far East as well as with the
historic markets of the western world.”
1 See Stones of V6rendra—\n the Modem Review , June, August and September 1911.
* An important Tantrlc image of the goddess, popularly called Bhairavi, in the vicinity
of Kaligr&ma, has been brought to the notice of the literary world by Mr. Harid&sa P&lit,
of the District Council of National Education, Malda, and described with illustration in
the Bengali monthly, the Ghrlhastha, Calcutta.
it
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CHAPTER V.
THE DATA OP ANCIENT INDIAN BOTANY.
Section i.
Sukraniti an a source of Botanical Information.
In Sukraniti references to plants and plant-life fall into three classes :
1. The Nltis&stra being the architectonic or dominant science, whatever
has any influence on human and social life must be discussed in it. Treatment
of botanical topics thus has a very natural place in Sukraniti. In Hindu
literature there is the tradition of Vardhamihira, the scientist of the 6th
century A.D., having treated of more than a thousand phenomena of Nature
as affecting the well-being of humanity in his celebrated treatise, Brihat Samhitd.
2. The flora of a locality as well as the Botanical ideas obtaining in any
epoch cannot but leave their mark on the literary activities of a people. The
casual references of authors to vegetation, the features or habits of plants,
and their uses in social life are some of the internal evidences which may be
interpreted as telling the story of the author’s range of experiences. Like the
Data of ancient Indian Mineralogy and Geography, the Data of ancient Indian
Botany that may be culled from a study of the flora in Sukraniti would thus
furnish important clues to the home and surroundings as well as the epoch
in which the authors of the Sukra cycle flourished. For in the first place,
types of flora vary from province to province, and secondly, the knowledge
about plant-life changes from epoch to epoch. The Botanical references in
Sukraniti, therefore, must carry with them the * spirit ’ of both Space and Time.
3. The authors of the Sukra cycle have not treated of plants as plants ,
but as substances having a direct or indirect bearing on the social, economic
and political topics that concern them mainly. The treatment of plants in
Sukraniti is, therefore, not at all what should be expected in Botany as an
abstract science , but is purely utilitarian or economic. The Economic Botany
of SukrachAryya, again, eschews the medical or Ayurvedic, and industrial or
artistic branches, but is treated of only in the following aspects: (1) Agriculture,
(2) Horticulture and (3) Forestry,
Section 2.
Identification of the Sukra Flora .
The trees, plants, shrubs, creepers, &c., mentioned in Sukraniti are being
shown in three schedules. 1 The first schedule contains the plants grouped
together by the authors of the Sukra cycle under the common name of
Phalinah or fruit-bearing. The second schedule contains the plants grouped
• See the lists in Meyen’s Botanical Geography (Ray Society, London, 1846),
pp. 190-896.
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together in the treatise under the common name of Kantakinah (thorny) and
Aratfyaka (growing in forests).
The classification is not at all scientific according to the principles of
modern Botany, nor does it indicate any cleverness from the ordinary stand¬
point of the layman. For even as yielding edible fruits some of the plants
mentioned in the second list might be well-placed in the first.
The third schedule contains the trees, plants, or shrubs to which only
casual references have been made.
(a) The Phalinah or Fruit-bearing Trees . 1
It is to be noted that the term fruit-bearing has not been used in the strict
Botanical sense of Phanerogams, which, being flowering plants, are necessarily
also fruit-bearing. The Sukra authors mean simply that these trees grow
fruits either in abundance or such as are appreciated by men as edibles or
articles of commerce.
Sanskrit namh. English name, botanical name. Habitat.
1. Udumvara ... .... Ficus glomerata ... Sub-himalayan tract and outer
valleys, in ravines, on the banks
of rivers and in damp places,
Ajmere-Merwara, A boo, Behar,
Chutia Nagpur, Bengal plains,
Khasi Hills, Chittagong, Lower
Burma, Irrawadi valley, Western
Peninsula, Central Provinces.
2. Aswattha ... Holy fig-tree Ficus religiosa ... Indigenous in the Sub-himalyan
(Peepul). tract. Cultivated throughout
India. Hare in the arid regions
of N. W. India. Common on and
destructive to buildings in
Bengal. Sacred to Hindus and
Buddhists.
8. Vata ... Banyan ... Ficus bengalensis Commonly planted by the Hindus
throughout India as far north
as Peshawar and in the outer
Himalaya as high as 4,000 feet.
4. Chinch* ... Tamarind ... Tamarindus indica Cultivated throughout India and
Burma. Self-sown in waste and
forest lands. The fruit does
not ripen west of Amballa.
5 Chandana ... Sandal ... Santalnm album ... Indigenous in W. Peninsula.
Grown in gardens north as far
as Saharanpur.
6. J&mbh&la ... Lime—acid and Citrus mcdica ... Kumaon, C. P., Sikkim, Garo Hills,
sweet, citron, Satpura Hills, Western Ghats,
lemon. Chittagong, Khasi Hills.
i See Botanical Volume of the Bombay Gazetteer (1886), Indian Trees by Brandis, Indige¬
nous Drugs of India by Kanny Lall Dey and Dictionary of Economic Products by Watt,
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( 132 )
Sanskrit namb. English namb. Botanical namb. Habitat.
7. Kadamba ... ... Nauclea eadamba ... Terai and outer hills of Sikkim to
8,000 feet, evergreen forests of
North Kanara, Northern Circars,
Cuddapah and Karnnl, Eastern
slopes of the Pegu Toma. Com-
monly planted.
8. Asoka ... ... Jone»ia atoka ... Ehasl Hills, Arakan, Tenasserim,
Western Peninsula, Northern
Circars, and In evergreen forests
of the Kankan and Kanara.
Frequently planted, chiefly near
temples in India and Burma.
8. Vakula ... •« Mimusops elengi ... Western Peninsula, southwards
from Kandala Ghat on the west
and Northern Circars on the
east. Commonly planted, north
.as far as Lahore.
10. Vilwa ... Bael tree ... Mgle marmelot ... Wild in the Sub-himalayan tracts
and outer hills from the Jhelum
eastwards, also in S. India and
Burma. Cultivated throughout
India on account of its fruit.
11. Amrita ... Pear tree Pyrut communis Largely cultivated in N. W.
(NAfpAti in Himalaya.
Hindi).
13. Kapit t h a k a Wood-apple... Feronia elephantum Generally cultivated in both
(Kftt bel in peninsulas. Indigenous in 8.
Hindi). India and Ceylon. Bark used as
a cosmetic.
18. Rftjadana ... ... Mimusops hexandra Banda District, sandstone of
p&chmarhi and adjoining hill
ranges, Chanda District, Gujrat,
Khandesh, Deccan, Srihari Kota.
14. Amra ... Mango ... Mangifera Indica... Indigenous in Burma, Sikkim,
Assam, Khasi Hills, Satpuras, W.
Ghats. Cultivated all over India
and Burma, excepting the nor¬
thern part of the Punjab.
15. Punnftga ... ... 0 alophyll u m On the west coast from Bombay,
inophyllum. on the east coast from Orissa
southwards. Often cultivated,
Saline tracts, Minbu District,
Upper Burma.
16. K&fth&mra ... ... tfyrica sapida ... Outer Himalaya from the Ravi
eastwards.
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Sanskrit naich. English name. Botanical name. Habitat.
17 . Tuda ... Mulberry ... (1) Mortis alba ... (1) Punjab plains, Kashmir, N. W.
Himalaya.
(2) Morut indica ... (2) Wild in the Sub-himalayan
tract in dry forest from the Sut¬
lej eastward. Extensively cul¬
tivated to feed the seedworm in
Bengal and Burma.
18. Champaka ... ... Michelia champaka, Wild on the Western Ghats in the
southern portion, in Sikkim (up
to 8,000 feet) and in Lower Bur¬
ma. Cultivated in the moister
parts of India and Burma,
shady valleys in Singhbhum.
I®. Nipa ... ... Variety of Jonesia
aMoka,
20. Koka ... Wild date tree Phoenix 1 eylvettris Indigenous and gregarious in
many parts of India. Planted
largely. Mats and baskets made
of leaves. Sugary juice extract¬
ed in the cold season.
21. Amra ... ... Spondiae man • Sub-himalayan tract and outer
gif era. valleys to 8,000 feet from the
Chenab eastwards. Salt range
in the Punjab, deciduous forests
of Burma and the Western
Peninsula.
22. Sarala ... Pine ... Pinutlongifolia ... Sub-himalayan tract and outer
Himalaya, abundant as far east
as Nepal; not in the inner arid
valleys. Further eastward leas
common, in Sikkim usually on
dry southern slopes. It is sup¬
posed that the rainfall in the
Sub-himalayan tract here is too
heavy for this species (Gamble's
Darjeeling Li*t Ed, ii. 1888).
28. Dftrima ... Pomegranate... Punica granatum Indigenous in Persia and Afgha¬
nistan. Cultivated. Naturalised
in India from remote antiquity.
24. Akgota ... (1) Walnut (1) Juglans regia ... (1) Indigenous trans-Indus in the
(fikhrot in Kurram valley, N.-W. Himalaya,
Hindi). Sikkim.
(2) Indian (2) Aleurite* mo- (2) Indigenous prohably in the
walnut, luccana. Malaya Archipelago. Cultivat¬
ed in most tropical and sub¬
tropical countries, end here and
there naturalised.
Digitized by ^ ooQle
Habitat.
( 134 )
Sanskrit name. English namb. Botanical name.
25. Sims.upA ... ... Dalbergia stssoo ... 8ub-himalayan tract and in outer
yalleys from the Indus to
Assam. Extending far into the
plains along river banks. Planted
and often selfsown throughout
India.
26. Bhissata.
27. Yadara ... Jujube(kool in Zizyphus jujuba ... Indigenous and naturalised
Bengali). throughout India and Burma.
Grown in gardens for its fruit.
28. Nimba ... Neem or Mar- Azadirachta indica Wild in the dry region of the
goza. Irrawady valley. Cultivated and
naturalised throughout India,
, rare west of the Sutlej.
29. Simbhu.
80. Jambfra ... Lime ... Variety of Oitrui
medico,.
81. K?irika
... Variety of Aft mu-
sop# hexandra.
82. Kharjura
... (1) Variety of Phoe¬
nix eylveztrit.
(2) Date-palm (2) Phcenix dacty- (2) Cultivated and selfsown in
lifera. Sind and Southern Punjab,
, attempts to grow it have been
made in other parts of India.
88. Devakaraja ... ... Pongai ia glabra... Common near banks of streams
and water-courses in both penin-
s u 1 a s. Travancore, Oudh
Forests, here and there in Sub-
himalayan tract, ascending to
2,000 feet.
84. Ph&lgu ... Opposite-leaved
flg tree. (?)
85. TApinchchha 1 ... Variety of Oarcinia
(Tamftla). xanthochymus.
86. Simbhala.
87. Kuddftla ... Ebony ... Diospyros melon- Common in deciduous forests of
xylon, 0. P., Chutia Nagpur, Beharand
W. Peninsula.
88. Lavali ... ... (I) Phyllanthu* die- (1) In gardens throughout India.
tichas.
(2) Anona reticulata (2) Cultivated over a great part
of India.
\ It is to be noted that Tdpinchchha is a variety of Tamdla (Garcinia xanthoohymus)
included in the list of wild flora in Sukraniti.
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( 135 )
Sanskrit namb. English namb. Botanical namb, Habitat.
89. Dhfttrf ... ... Woodfordia flori- Widely spread from tropical
buttda. Africa, Arabia to India, ascend¬
ing to 5,000 feet in the Himalaya
and to both peninsulas.
40. Kramnka ... Betel-nut ... Areca catechu ... Cultivated in the tropical and
sub-tropical regions of India
and Burma, in gardens and
orchards on the W. coast and in
N. Bengal. The seeds are an
important article of trade, the
spathes are used to write upon,
to wrap up parcels, and as
covering leaf of cheroots in
Burma.
41. M&tulungaka... Citron ... Variety of Citrus
medica.
42. Lakoocha ... ... Artocarpus lakoo- Sub-himalayan tract and outer
cha. hills, from Kumaon eastwards,
ascending to 4,000 feet Khasi
Hills. Burma, evergreen forest
of the Western Ghats from the
Konkan southwards.
48. Nftrikela ... Cocoanut ... Cocos nucifera ... Cultivated throughout the tro¬
pics, chiefly in the vicinity of
the sea, but also inland.
44. Rambhfl ... Plantains ... Mtisa sapieAtum ... Extensively cultivated through¬
out India, nearer coast tracts
than inland.
The list of fruit-bearing trees in the Sukra Flora contains 44 plants.
Of these four have not been identified, viz., (1) Bhissata,(2) £imbhu, (3) Simbhala
and (4) Phalgu. The remaining 40 plants belong to 35 species, as four species
have been mentioned in varieties comprising nine plants, e.g. t (1) Citrus medica
as J&mbhflla, Jamblra, and Mfltulungaka, (2) Jonesia asoka as Asoka and Nlpa,
(3) Mimusops hexandra as R&jadana and Ksirika, (4) Phoenix sylvestris as
Koka and Khaijura.
These 35 species are grouped under the following 19 Natural Orders
I. Rutaceas ... ... (1) Citrus medica.
(2) ASgle marmelos.
(8) Feronia elephantum.
II. Urticacem ... ... (1) Ficus glomerate.
(2) Ficus religiose.
(8) Ficus bengalensis.
(4) Moms alba or Indica.
(5) Artocarpus lakoochu.
Ill Leguminosee ... ... (1) Tamarindus indica.
(2) Jonesia asoka.
(8) Dalbergia sissoo.
(4) Pongamia glabra,
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( 186 )
tV. Santalsoem ... .Santalum album.
V. Rubiaoem ... .Nauolea oadamba.
VI. 6apotaoem ... ... (1) MImusops elengL
(8) MImusops hezandra.
VII. Rosaoe® ... ... ... Pyrus oommunia.
Vni. Anaoardiaoem ... (1) Mangifera indioa.
(8) 8pondiaa mangif era.
IX. Magnoliaom ... .Miehelia ohampaka.
X. Palmaceas ... ... (1) Phoenix sylvestris.
(8) Areea catechu.
(8) Ooooa inucifera.
XI. Conifer® ... ... ... Pinna longifolia.
XII. Juglandaoe® ... .Juglans regia.
XIII. Meliaeese ... .Axadlraohta indioa.
XIV. Enphorbiaoeae... ... ... Phyllanthna diatiehaa.
XV. Musaoe® ... .Mnaa sapienturn.
XVI. Guttifer® ... ... (1) Calophyllnm inophyllnm.
(8) Garoinia xanthochymna.
XVII. Myricaee® ... .Myrica aapida.
XVIII. Ebenaoe® ... .Dioapyroa melanxylon.
XIX Lythraoe® ... ... (1) Woodfordia floribonda.
(8) Pnnioa granatnm.
(6) The Aranyaka Trees .
The following list contains the names of trees which, according to
SukrAchftryya should be planted in forests
Sanskrit namb. English name, botanical name Habitat.
1. Khadira ... Catechu ... Acacia catechu ... Sub-himalayan tract from the
Indna eastwards, generally gre¬
garious on islands and on the
banka of rivers at their
entranoe into the plains. Com¬
mon on the Aravalli Hills and
in the W. Peninaula t as well as
Burma, Central Provinces, Chu-
tia Nagpur, Behar.
1 Asmanta ... Oxalis, (?) Orotalaria burhia Common in the plains of Sind,
probably In- Punjab, W. Rajputana and Guja-
dian hemp. rat.
8. 8Aka ... Teak ... Tectona grandlt ... Indigenous in both peninsulas.
In W. India attains its northern
limit in W. Aravallis at 84*48'
N. Lat. In C. India its northern¬
most point is JhansL Cultivated
in Bengal and Assam and in N.
India as far as Dehra Don.
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( 137 )
SAN8KBIT NAME.
4. Agnimantha .
5. Syaun&ka
C. Vabbula
7. Tam Ala
8. SAla
9. Kutaja
10. Dhava
11. Arjuna
12. Pal Asa
18
English name. Botanical name.
Premna integrir
folia .
Oroxylum indieum
Acacia ardbica ...
Garcinia xantho-
chymut or Oinna-
monum tamdla.
Bhorea robusta ...
Bolarrhena anti -
dysenteric *.
Anogeissus latifolia
Terminalia arjutia
Butea frondosa ...
Habitat.
West Peninsula, Bengal, Burma.
Sub-himalayan tract from the
Jumna eastwards. Rare west
of the Jumna.
Indigenous in Sind and Northern
Deccan, including Berar and
Khandesh. Cultivated and na¬
turalised throughout India, ex¬
cept in the most humid regions.
The pods are excellent cattle-
fodder. Gum exudes largely
from wounds in the bark.
Sikkim, Assam, Ehasi, Chittagong,
W. Peninsula, Circars, W. Ghats,
N. Kanara.
Two irregular, but fairly defined
belts: (1) Sub-himalayan belt
from Kangra valley to Darrang
(Assam). Further to N. W. the
cold is too severe, further east,
the climate is too moist. (2)
Central Indian belt extends from
Coromandel coast west to Pach-
marhi sandstone hills and south
to Godavari river.
Sub-himalayan tract, from the
Chenab eastwards, common in
sAl forest. Aravalli Hills, Behar,
C. P. western Peninsula, Bengal.
One of the trees to be employed
in reclaiming waste lands.
Sub-himalayan tract from the
Ravi to Nepal, C. I., Western
Peninsula,Chutia Nagpur, Behar,
Orissa. Not In Assam, Eastern
Bengal nor Burma.
Common on the banks of rivers,
streams and dry water courses
in C. I. and S. Behar, in the
Peninsula and Ceylon, Jammu,
Chutia Nagpur. Here and
there in Sub-himalayan tract.
Not in east and Central Bengal,
nor in Burma.
Common throughout India and
Burma, often gregarious. In the
N. W. Himalaya. In Travancore
not common.
Digitized by
Google
Habitat.
Sanskrit name.
13. Saptaparna ...
14. Sami
15. Tirana
16. Devadftru ...
17. Vikankata ...
18. Karamanda
10. Ingudi
20. Bhflrja
( 138 )
English name. Botanical name.
... Alstonia scholaris
Acacia suma
Cedrela toonu
Him a 1 a y a n Cedrus deodara ...
cedar.
... Flacourtia sapida
Carissa carandas
... Balanites roxbur-
ghii.
... Betula bhojapatra
Sub-himalayan tract, ascending to
8,000 feet from the Jamna east¬
wards. Western Peninsula and
Burma, mostly in deciduous
forests, Bengal, Assam, Anda¬
mans.
W. Peninsula, both on the west
as well as east side extending
north to Pertabgarh, in 8. Jttj-
putana, Lower Bengal.
Sub-himalayan tract from the
Indus eastwards. Evergreen
forests of the W, Ghats and
other hills of the W. Peninsula,
Khasi Hills, Manipur, Upper
and Lower Burma. Cultivated
extensively.
Afghanistan, Chittral, Kurram,
N. W. Himalaya. On two feed¬
ers of Alakananda. Cultivated
in Kumaon and Nepal.
Sub-himalayan tract from the
Punjab eastwards, Rajputana,
Behar, Central India, the Deccan,
and the Peninsula, mostly in
dry open places and on rocky
hills, Manipur.
Cultivated for its fruit in most
parts of India.
Chiefly in the drier parts of
India and Burma, as far north
as Delhi, common in the open
country, particularly on stiff
clay soil.
Kurram valley, 10—11,000 feet,
in Himalaya, 10—14,000 feet, in
the Punjab as low as 7,800 feet,
also in the inner arid region.
Often gregarious at the upper
limit of tree vegetation. The
outer bark is used as a paper
for writing and packing, for
umbrella covers and for the
roofing of houses.
Digitized by
Google
( 139 )
Sanskrit naxb. English hams. Botanical namb. Habitat.
21. Vi$amu?thi .. ... Strychhoa nux-vo- Gorakhpur forests. Near Pundua,
mica. Orissa, W. Peninsula, Burma.
The seeds eontaln strychnine,
an extremely bitter and most
poisonous alkaloid.
22 Karlraka ... ... Capparia aphylla Arid and dry regions of W. Pe¬
ninsula, from the Punjab and
8indto Tutioorln, waste lands
of the Doab.
28. Sallaki ... ... Boswellia terrata Sub-hlmalayan tract from the
Sntlej eastwards and throughout
the drier parts of the Western
Peninsula. Always in decidu¬
ous forests and often gregarious,
forming open forests, 0. India,
Behar, Chutia Nagpur.
24. K&smari ... ... Omelina arborm Sub-hlmalayan tract from the
Chenab eastwards. Aravalli
Hills, C. I., Slnghbhum, Western
Peninsula, Burma, Assam, Cen¬
tral Bengal, South Lusai Hills,
Chittagong,
25. Pftthft ... ... Stephania Kernan- Sub-hlmalayan tract from Nepal
difolia. eastwards, Assam, Khasi Hills,
Bengal, Burma, W. Ghats and
Coast, Ceylon.
20. Tinduka ... ... Dioapyroa em- Sub-himalayan tract from the
bryopteris. Jumna to the Tista, chiefly in
ravines and moist shady places.
0. L, W. Peninsula, common in
Northern Ciroars, Bengal. The
pulp of the unripe fruit is used
as gum and in the place of tar
for paving the seams of boat.
27. Yijas&raka *. ... Variety of Oitrua
medico.
28. Haritaki ... ... Terminalia chebula Sub-himalayan tract from the
Sutlej eastwards. Common in the
deciduous forests. The dry
fruit is one of the best tanning
materials. (See Brandis’ Indian
Trees , p. 808, Edition of 1900).
29. Bhallata ... Marking nut Semecarpua ana - Sub-himalayan tract from the
cardium. Bias eastwards. Assam, Khasi
Hills, Chittagong, C. I., W. Pe¬
ninsula, Behar, Chutia Nagpur,
Upper Burma.
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( 140 )
Sanskrit namb. English namb. Botanical name. Habitat.
80. SampAka.
31. Arka ... ... Calotropis gig an- Common in the plains of Northern
tea* India and in the Peninsula,
Jabalpur, Snndariban, Singh-
bhnm, often gregarious. Fibre
silky, made into rope, paper
and eloth.
82. Pufkara.
88. Arimeda ... ... Acacia famesiana Throughout India and Burma.
84- Pitadru ... Variety of piue
(Deodar).
35. SAlmali ... The cotton Bombax malabari- Sub-himalayan tract from the
tree. cum. Indus eastwards. Common in
both peninsulas and often cul¬
tivated.
30. Vlbhftaka ... ... Terminalia belle- Sub-himalayan tract from near
Wca. the Indus eastwards. Common
throughout India and Burma,
excepting the arid region of
Sind, Western Kajputana and
the Southern Punjab. Fruit
used for dyeing and tanning,
87. Naravela.
88. Madhuka ... ... Ectasia, latifolia Planted in most parts of India,
propagating itself by selfsown
seed. Indigenous in the Sub-hi¬
malayan tract from the Ravi to
the Great Gandak, in the Sat-
pura range, and the Peninsula.
The list of Aranyaka Flora in Sukraniti contains 38 plants. Of these, three
have not been identified: (1) SampAka, {2) Puskara and (3) Naravela. The
remaining 35 plants belong to 34 species, 1 as one species has been mentioned in
two varieties, e.g. t the Pinus deodara as DevadAru and Pitadru.
These 34 species are grouped under the following 23 Natural Orders:
I. Leguminosee ... ... (L) Acacia catechu.
(2) Crotalaria burhia.
(8) Butea frondosa.
(4) Acacia arabioa.
(5) Acacia suma.
(6) Acacia farneslana.
II. Verbenaoeee ... ... (1) Tectona grandis.
(2) Premna integrifolia.
(3) Gmelina arborea.
* It is to be noted that Vijas&raka mentioned here is a variety of Citrus medica
included in the Fruit-bearing list,
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( U1 )
III.
Bignoniaceae
...
Oroxylum indicum.
IV.
Guttiferee
...
Garcinla xanthoohymus.
V.
Dipterocarpaeere
...
Shorea robusta.
VI.
Apocynacem
(1)
Holarrhena antidysenterioa.
(3)
Carissa carandas.
(8)
Alstonia scholaris.
VII.
Combretaceae
(1)
Anogeissus latlfolia,
(1)
Terminalia arjuna.
(8)
Terminalia ohebula.
(4)
Terminalia bellerioa.
VIII.
Meliaceee
Cedrela toon a.
IX.
Conifer®
Cedrus Deodara.
X.
Bixacece
...
Flacourtia sapida.
XI.
Simarubace®
Balanites roxburghii.
XII.
Betulaceie
Betula bhojapatra.
XIII.
Logan i ace® ...
Strychnos nux vomica.
*IV.
Capparidacese
.
Capparis aphylla.
XV.
Burse race® ...
Boswellia serrata.
XVI.
Menispermace®
...
Stephania hernandifolia.
XVII.
Ebenace®
...
Diospyros embryopteris.
XVIII.
Rut ace®
Citrus medica.
XIX.
Anncardiace®
Semecarpus anacnrdium.
XX.
Asclepiadace®
...
Calotropis gigantea.
XXL
Malvaceae
...
Bomba* malabarioum.
XXII.
Sapotace®
.
Bassia latlfolia.
(i c) Other Plants. 1
The following is the list of plants to which references have been made in
Sukraniti either as illustrations or as economic products of daily domestic
use, etc.:
Sanskrit namr. English namr. Botanical namr.
Habitat.
1. Utpala,
Kamala.
2. Sarsapa
8. Vena
4. Vrfhi
Lotus
Mustard
.. Bamboo
... Rice
... Selumbium apecio- Large aquatic herb found all
sum. over India and extending as
far north as Kashmir.
... Braaaica campea- Throughout India.
tria.
... Dendrocalamua Widely spread and very common
atrictua. throughout India and Burma.
... Oryaa aativa. Cultivated throughout I n d i a .
Chief wild habitat from Madras
and Orissa to Bengal, Chitta¬
gong, Assam. Extends to Nil-
giri Hills, U. P., and even to
Punjab.
1 See Food-Qraina of India by A. H. Church (Chapman A Hall, London, 1888), The
Indian Empire in the Imperial Gazetteer of India Series, Yol. Ill, Economic, Chapter II
(1907). Watt’s Dictionary of Economic Producta of India , Vols. Y, VI (Parts I and II),
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 142 )
Sanskrit namb.
5. Ikfu
6. TAmbfila
7. Kuluttha
8. MAs*
9. Mudga
10. Yava
U. Tila
IS. Nifpftpa
18. Maku$tha ...
14. Chanaka
15. Masfira
16. Snuhi
17. Rasona
18. Nil!
19. Tula (Bengali
name (or
Kfirp&sa).
ENGLI8H NAMB. BOTANICAL NAMB.
Sugarcane ... Baccharum offieir
nurum.
Betel leaf ... Piper betle
Horse gram ... Dolickos biflorut or
unifiorua.
Black gram ... Phateolus radiatm
Green gram... PhaBeoluB mungo
Barley ... Hordeum vulgare
Seeamum ... 8e$amum indicum
... Dolichos BineniU
or lablab .
... Phaseolu8 aconti-
foliuB .
Gram ... Cicer arietinum ...
Lentil ... Ervum lent or Lena
eaculenta.
... Euphorbia neriifolia
Garlic
... Allium tativum ...
Indigo
... Indigofera tine -
toria.
Cotton
... Oo8aypium herba-
ceum.
Habitat.
U. P., Bengal, Punjab. Cultivated
throughout sub-tropical and
tropical Asia and the islands
of the Indian nnd Pacific ooeans.
Cultivated for the sake of its
leaves in the hotter and damper
regions of India and Ceylon
(Madras, C. P. t Bengal, U. P.,
Bombay).
Wild in the Himalaya to Ceylon
and Burma, ascending to 8,000
feet in Sikkim. Hot infrequent*
ly cultivated.
Both wild and cultivated through¬
out the plains.
Both wild and cultivated through¬
out the plains, ascending .to
6,000 feet in the outer ranges
of N. W. Himalaya.
Throughout India.
Cultivated throughout the tropi¬
cal regions of the globe. In
India a crop of the warm tem¬
perate or sub-tropical tracts.
Wild and cultivated throughout
India.
Throughout India from Himalaya
to Ceylon and extending from
the tropical region up to 4,000
feet in the N. W.
Extensively cultivated through¬
out India, especially in the
Northern Provinces.
Winter crop all over India.
Wild on rooky ground in O. L, and
extensively cultivated in the
neighbourhood of villages in
Bengal and elsewhere.
Cultivated all over India.
Cultivated as an annual or as a
biennial or triennial.
Egypt, Asia Minor, Northern
Africa and Southern Europe.
Cultivated at least In N. W.
India even as early as Alex¬
ander, (WatfB Dictionary.)
Digitized by
Google
( 143 )
8AN8KRIT NAME. ENGLISH NAME. BOTANICAL NAME. HABITAT.
10. Godhuma ... Wheat. . M Triticum vulgare Generally, in those parts of
or sativum, India, where riee does not
thrive; but rarely it is culti¬
vated anywhere south of the
Deccan.
11. Harimatha ... Peas ... Pisum sativum ... Perhaps existed in Northern
India before the arrival of
E. Aryans. Universal.
11. Swetasarsapa, White mustard Brassicaalba ... Supposed to be a native of more
or Rye. southern portion of Europe and
Western Asia. By no means
a common plant.
18. Gunja, Rati, ... Abrus precatorius All along the Himalaya ascend-
Krifnala. ing to altitude 3,000 feet and
spreading through the plains
of India to Ceylon and Siam.
14. Gftnjft ... Indian hemp... Cannabis sativa ... Wild on the Western Himalaya
and Kashmir and acclimatised
on the plains of India generally.
The list consisting mainly of pulses and cereals contains 24 plants belong¬
ing to 24 species. The absence of millets and some other cereals is to be
noted, but does not prove anything; for the presence of barley in the list indicates
the conditions necessary for the growth of all these. The 24 species fall under
the following nine Natural Orders :—
I. Leguminos® ...
II. Gramine®
III. Crucifer®
IV. Nymphace® ...
V. Euphor biace®...
VI. Liliace®
VII. Piperaoe®
VIII. Pedaline®
IX. Urticaee®
(1) Dolichos biflorus.
(2) Pbaseolus radiatus.
(8) Phaseolus mungo.
(4) Dolichos lablab.
(5) Phaseolus acontifolius.
(8) Cicer arietinum.
(7) Lens esculents.
(8) Indigofera tinctoria.
(9) Abrus precatorius.
(10) Pisum sativum.
(1) Hordeum vulgare.
(2) Dendrocalamus striotus.
(8) Oryza sativa.
(4) Saccharum officinarum.
(5) Triticum sativum or vulgare.
(1) Brassica campestris.
(2) Brassica alba.
... Nelumbium speciosum.
... Euphorbia neriifolia.
... Allium sativum.
... Piper betle.
... Sesamum indicum.
... Cannabis sativa.
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( 144 )
Section 3 .
The Locale of Sukrantti
1 . * Botanical Statistics ’ applied to Sukrantti.
The Sukra Flora consists of a little above 100 plants, of which seven have
not been identified. Taking into consideration the varieties, the total number
of species in Sukrantti is 93 under 40 Natural Orders. Only three of these
orders belong to the Monocotyledon class, e.g. t Liliaceae, Palmae and Gramineae.
In numerical importance the dominant Orders of Sukra
Flora are
given
below
1 .
Legnminos®
... 18 species.
0.
Pal mace® ...
... 8
species
1
Urticaoe®...
... 5
»»
10 .
Sapotace®
... 8
t*
8 .
Rntace® ...
... 4
»»
11 .
Enphorbiaoe®
... 2
tt
4.
Gramineae ...
... 4
tt
12 .
Conifer® ...
... 2
tt
5.
Combretace®
... 4
ft
18.
Lythrace®
... 2
n
8.
Verbenaceae
8
ft
14.
Gnttifer®
... 2
tt
7.
Apocynace®
... 8
»»
15.
Ebenace® ...
... 2
tt
8 .
Anaoardiaoe®
... 8
tf
The habitats or 'station * of the plants given in the tables in the preceding
section indicate a wide range both horizontally and vertically. The ‘regions'
and 1 zones ’ of the Sukra Flora are thus varied like those of the whole of Indian
vegetation. Himalayan, Sub-himalayan, alluvial, riparian, deciduous, evergreen,
arid, rocky, and littoral (seacoast), in fact, all the descriptions of Indian Flora
have their specimens in Sukrantti. Their vertical distribution also ranges from
sea-level to about 3,000 feet high and more. The Sukra Flora thus tells the story
of the diverse meteorological, physiographical and geological features of the
Indian continent, and may be regarded as more or less epitomical of Flora Indica.
Many of these plants are cosmopolites, distributed, whether as indigenous
or naturalised, throughout the country. Except the Pinus longifolia (sarala)
which is characteristic of Himalayan Flora, the Santalum album which is
characteristic of South India, and the Palmae of the hot and humid regions,
the Sukra Flpra does not seem to contain any characteristically local or pro¬
vincial specimens. If we add to these the fact that as articles of commerce for
the necessaries, medicines, arts, industries, comforts and luxuries of life most
Indian plants have been known in all parts of India since very early times, 1 we
can realise the difficulty of characterising the Sukra Flora as belonging to a
particular area on the strength of the ‘ statistics 1 and 1 physiognomies' of plants,
and thus of ascertaining the ‘locale' of Sukrantti from a study of the geography
of its flora*
The small percentage of Monocotyledons in proportion to the Dicotyledons
indicates lower latitude and absence of great cold. This is according to the
1 The Charaka Sarphita , a medicinal Work of the Pre-Baddhistio times, written
certainly In the Punjab, mentions Santalnm album. Roxburgh in Flora IndicaK 1874) notes
the loxnriant growth of the plant in Calcutta Botanical Gardens (p. 148).
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 145 )
reckonings of Humboldt 1 who determined after laborious processes that “in the
torrid zone the monocotyledons are as i : 6 to the Dicotyledons, while in the
temperate zone the proportion is 1 : 4, and in the arctic i : 3.“ This delimitation
of area, however, is too wide, as it gives only one general term ‘equatorial * for
the distribution of the Sukra Flora.
From the statistics of the species and Natural Orders, however, wc can
generalise, though still within wide limits, as to the Geography of the Sukra
Flora more satisfactorily than above. For most of the species in the Sukra
Flora may be allotted to the sub-tropical zone, the botanical characteristics of
which are given below :* “In the sub-tropical zone the vegetation is green
throughout all the year like the forests of the damp regions of the torrid zone.
From the great heat of the sun palms as well as bananas grow here in the
plains. • • • The date-palm belongs to the whole western part of the
sub-tropical zone of the old world. * * * In summer* there is a tropical
heat which ripens almost all the fruits of the equatorial zone, while in winter
the temperature is so low that often old trees of the well-known noble tropical
fruits perish. During the summer which is here at the rainy season there are
cultivated rice, indigo, cotton tree, &c.; of leguminosae, species of phaseolus
and dolichos ; gourds, sesamum, &c.
But the appearance of the inhabited districts of this country is totally
different in winter when the cereals of the north are cultivated such as wheat,
barley, oats, millet, and also beans, mustards, &c. But the vegetation of the
uncultivated places as well as of the cultivated soil exhibits these different
characters at the different seasons* that is, in summer it resembles the vegeta¬
tion of the warmer zones. In winter, on the contrary, only old well-known
genera belonging to the colder part of the temperate zone appear. * * ♦ The
chief plants which in summer adorn the district round Delhi with a more
southern character, are Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia serissa, arabica, farnesiana,
Cedrela toona and various species of Melia, Ficus, Morus, Gmelina, Phoenix,
&c.”
This diversity of vegetation according to seasons of the year would well
explain the wide differences in the habitation of the plants in Sukrantti we have
referred to at the beginning. The following general description of the physiog¬
nomy and topography of the countries of the sub-tropical zone, also, fits in very
well with the varied physiography suggested by the Sukra Flora*—“ In all the
plants we have named we perceive a receding from the equator; there is no longer
a trace of the excess of tropical forms ; but so beautiful a country, the climate
of which unites the advantages of the torrid and temperate zones, will in the
possession of an active nation, soon become the rendezvous of all the cultivated
plants of the various zones, and even now there is grown there a variety of the
1 Meyen’s Botanical Geography (1840). pp. 278-79.
f Meyea’s Botanical Geography (1848). pp. 177 etc. The country round Delhi and
from Delhi to Seratnpore on the Hooglily has been taken as typical of the sub-tropical
zone.
19
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 146 )
beautiful fruits of the torrid and temperate zones, such as hardly any country
can boast of.”
Thus gradually narrowing the boundaries we come to the conclusion that
the Flora of the sub-tropical zone may well cover the whole of Sukra Flora.
We have to note also that the chief characteristic of this zone, as of the Sukra
Flora, is the double aspect according as the summer or winter vegetation is
most fully displayed.
In order to find out more closely the locale of this vegetation in India
it now remains to apply or interpret the above hypothetical generalisation about
Sukra Flora according to the facts and conditions of Indian Phyto-geography.
We therefore proceed to enquire into the regions and sub-regions of India,
botanically considered, according to (i) ecological evidences and (2) literary
evidences. We shall then be in a position to demonstrate (1) how far the sub¬
tropical theory is tenable and (2) which portions of this zone are indicated.
For the ecological evidences we should have to take a broad survey of
Indian Botanical Geography and study the chief provinces or divisions into
which the country may be divided according to the predominent types of
vegetation brought on by the conditions of soil, physical features, environment
and climate, &c. In the second place, the Sukra Flora would have to be
allocated in one or other of these botanical provinces. The hypothesis about
the sub-tropical character of the Sukra Flora would thus be incidentally
verified.
For literary evidences we require a historic survey of Indian liter¬
ature. The objects are (1) to trace the influence of topographical and botanical
conditions on the literary activities of ancient and mediaeval scholars, e.g %% to
detect any clues as to the local character of the botanical references by Indian
authors, and (a) to compare, contrast or connect the Sukra Flora, if possible,
with the important Floras celebrated in Indian literary history, e.g. t Vedic,
Paninian, Charakan, Buddhistic, Kalidasic, Amarasimhan, Var&hamihiran,
Tantric, Pauranic, and so on, as regards geographical affinity or otherwise.
2. Ecological Evidences.
In the following summary of the characteristics of Indian Botanical
Geography we are giving a synopsis of the classical remarks of Dr. Hooker and
I)r. Thomson in the celebrated Introductory Essay to their monumental Flora
Indica. 0 From the position of India, its climate (and hence its vegetation) is more
generally tropical, than the latitude under which so much of it is included would
alone indicate. The mountains, however, when above 4—5,000 feet everywhere
present more or less of a temperate vegetation which becomes wholly
temperate at greater elevations and which passes into an alpine flora over a large
extent of still loftier mountain country.”
The tropical character is thus the most general feature of Indian vegetation.
11 The general physiognomy of the greater part of the Indian Flora probably
approximates more to that of tropical Africa than to any other part of the globe,
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 147 )
accompanying in both cases immense alluvial plains, bounded by deserts at
certain points and traversed by mountian chains of moderate elevation.*'
The vegetation, however, does not present a dead uniformity, but is richly
diversified in aspect. Thus
(i) the impenetrable green jungles of Eastern Bengal, and the west coast
of the Madras Peninsula contrast strongly with the drier parts of the inter-
tropical zone, and still more so with the loosely-timbered districts of Central
India and of the base of the Western Himalaya.
(a) The tropical forests may be divided into (a) those which inhabit
perennially humid districts and ( 6 ) those which are confined to regions
presenting contrasted seasons of summer rain and winter drought.
(3) The third circumstance which contributes to diversity in Indian Flora
is the peculiar protean climate of the extra-tropical regions. These unite within
themselves by a change of seasons the conditions of both tropical and more or less
temperate floras. This holds true not only with regard to forest vegetation, but
also with regard to annuals and perennially rooted plants with annual stems.
The intrusion of tropical floras upon extra-tropical regions and loftier mountain
valleys in summer, and the appearance of annual plants of the north temperate
zone in the extra-tropical regions during the cold months are causes which
greatly modify the vegetation of India in general aspects and character.
Now, taking the more fundamental climatological forces into view, the
whole of India may be regarded as constituting only one Botanical area, sub¬
divided for ordinary (and less scientific) purposes into tropical and sub-tropical.
This is practically what Hooker and Thomson did in the Introductory Essay in
*855 ; in which, to quote from Brandis’ Indian Trees , 1 “four primary divisions
were recognised, vis. i. Hindustan including the Western Peninsula from the
base of the Himalaya to Cape Comorin; ii. The Himalaya ; iii. Eastern India or
India east of the mouth of the Ganges ; and iv. Afghanistan and Baluchistan.”
The same thing has been done, though under slightly different names,
by Hooker in the chapter on Indian Botany in Vol. I. of the Indian Empire of
the Imperial Gazetteer Series (1906). To quote Brandis, again, “In this
admirable paper Hooker divides British India primarily into three Botanical
areas, a Himalayan, an eastern and a western, the two last-named being rough¬
ly separated by a line drawn meridionally from the Himalaya to the Bay of
Bengal. These areas he divides into nine provinces, vis. t (1) The Eastern
Himalaya, (2) The Western Himalaya, (3) The Indus plain, (4) The Gangetic
plain, (5) Malabar in a very broad sense, (6) The Deccan in a very extended
sense, (7) Ceylon, (8) Burma and (9) Malaya Peninsula.”
It is in one or other of these Botanical provinces that we have to seek the
types represented by the Sukra Flora.
The chief difficulty arises from the fact that, though 41 each one of these
is distinguished from the others by the possession of some characteristic forms
1 Pp. XV. xvi (Edition of 1906). ~
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 148 )
of vegetation and more especially by the general aspect and constitution of its
flora, it must not be assumed 1 that all the species of a botanical province are
to be found nowhere outside its geographical limits. On the contrary, the
characteristic vegetation of one province passes by insensible gradations into
that of another, so that, owing to the absence of any sharply defined limits, their
boundaries cannot be considered as more than approximative.”
(A) Gujr&t Flora and Sukra Flora.
If individual species or orders are considered, the Sukra Flora may be
more or less wholly located within parts of almost each one of these provinces.
Thus in the list of Gujrat Trees compiled in Vol. XXV of Gazetteer of the
Bombay Presidency (1886), we get the following specimens of the Sukra Flora :
(a) Fruit Trees.
1. Mangifera indica. 2. Bassia latifolia. 3. Tamarindus indica. 4. Zizy-
phus jujuba. 5. Feronia elephantum. 6. jEgle marmelos. 7. Carissa carandas.
8. Diospyros melanxylon. 9. Citrus medica. 10. Punica granatum. ti. Morus
indica. 12. Anona reticulata. 13. Cocos nucifera. 14. Areca catechu. 15. Musa
sapientuni.
{b) Flowers and Flowering Trees.
1. Michelia champaka. 2. Bombax malabaricum.
(c) Timber Trees .
1. Tectona grandis. 2. Dalbergia sissoo, 3. Gmelina arborea. 4. Acacia
arabica. 5. Anogeissus latifolia.
(d) Aroma and spice-producing Trees.
1. Santalum album. 2. Boswellia serrata.
(e) Dye pigment and Tan-yielding Trees .
1. Butea frondosa. 2. Acacia catechu. 3. Terminalia bellerica. 4. Wood-
fordia floribunda.
(/) Other useful Trees.
1. Holarrhena antidysenterica. 2. Dendrocalamus strictus.
(g) Liquor yielding Trees .
1. Phoenix sylvestris.
(A) Shade Trees.
1. Terminalia arjuna. 2. Ficus glomerata. 3. Ficus religiosa. 4. Ficus
bengalensis. 5. Pongamia glabra. 6. Azadirachta indica.
(t) Miscellaneous Trees .
1. Balanites roxburghii.
(f) Hedge Plants.
1. Euphorbia neriifolia.
• Remarks about the Flora of the Bombay Presidency (divided into five Botanical
Provinces) by Dr. W. Gray.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 149 )
In the above list we have altogether 39 species, out of 93 in the Sukra
Flora. As the Gujrat list does not contain the cereals, pulses and other food-
grains we have to deduct at least 24 from the Sukra list for purposes of
comparison. The result is that above half of Sukra Flora is represented
in Gujrat, an area which, according to the Botanical divisions of Hooker, falls
within two provinces, the Indus plain and Malabar. 1
(B) Bengal (Gangetic Plain) Flora and Sukra Flora .
Exactly the same may be said with greater force about the plants of
Bengal, also, which forms the humid region of the Gangetic delta and the
region immediately north of it, constituting the southern sub-region of Hooker’s
Botanical province of the Gangetic plain. 44 The villages* are usually buried
in groves of mango, figs, and bamboos, with the betel-nut, palm, palmyra,
phoenix and cocoa-nut.” ” The indigenous flora is much more extensive than
that of the upper Gangetic plain, comprising' all the species which grow
there (except those belonging to the Egyptian or arid flora), besides many
others which are not found to the north-west.”
Now this inclusion of Upper Gangetic Flora within the area of Bengal
means practically the inclusion of all the characteristic floras of India. For,
according to the Introductory Essay , 44 If we exclude this dry country flora, which
just skirts the southern part of the plain, the vegetation of the Gangetic plain
presents few peculiar features; indeed a catalogue of the plants of Rohilkhand
contains very few species which are not common all over India, even to the
extreme south of the peninsula, in those provinces which have a similar cli¬
mate. * * * We have already had occasion to direct attention to the remarkable
uniformity of the vegetation over large areas of India, and as our information
becomes more precise, the sameness becomes more striking.”
Ihese circumstances lead to Bengal Flora being more copious, varied
and epitomic of India, comprising (1) not only the characteristic vegetation
of humid regions like portions of Gujrat, but also (2) the species that are more
or less uniformly distributed over the whole of India, excepting only the
peculiar vegetation of arid regions. The result is that Bengal alone can supply
a greater percentage of the Sukra Flora than Gujrat or other areas having
more or less the climate of Bengal type.
And if following Botanical Geographers, we take Bengal proper along
with the other sub-regions of the Gangetic provinces as one Botanical Region,
1 Soe Imperial Gazetteer, Indian Empire, Vol. I, p. 163.
7 Indian Empire in tlie Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. I, 183.
• Introductory Essay to Flora Indica by Hooker and Thomson, p. 165 ; see also Re¬
cords of the Botanical Survey of India , Vol. Ill, No. 2. “ The Vegetation of the districts of
Hughli, Howrah and 24-Pergnnnahs” by D. Prain (1905). It is interesting to learn that, of the
•9 species in the two lists of Sukra Flora, 44 are to be found in these two districts of
Bengal alone. Cf. the lists of plants in the introductory section on Topography and
Vegetation (pp. 149-168). As for the cereals and other plants, the whole Sukra Flora
is represented in this small enough area.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 150 )
the whole of the Sukra Flora including, as it does, the deciduous, evergreen,
riparian, arid, littoral, humid and other species can be without the least
difficulty located in this habitat, which has an extensive area, slightly diverse
geological character and the characteristic round of seasons. For this Gan-
getic plain 1 comprises (i) an upper region including Rajputana east of the
Aravalli Hills, Bundelkhand, and Malwa north of the Vindhya range and
(2) a lower, including Bengal south of the Himalayas, Orissa north of the
Mahanadi, the Assam, Sylhet, Cachar, and Tippera plains.
(C) South Indian Flora and Sukra Flora.
About the vegetation of Southern India we summarise below the remarks
of Hooker and Thomson in the Introductory Essay : “ From the humid
character of the Malabar climate, its luxuriant vegetation might be inferred.
Hamilton tells us that it resembles Bengal in verdure, but has loftier trees
and more palms : the shores are skirted with cocoanuts, and the villages sur¬
rounded with groves of betel-nut, palms, &c. * * * The low valleys are richly
clothed with rice-fields and the hill sides with millets and other dry crops,
whilst the gorges and slopes of the loftier mountains are covered with a dense
and luxuriant forest. The mass of the flora is Malayan, and identical with
that of Ceylon, and many of the species are further common to the Khasia
and the base of the Himalaya.* * • The whole Concan is more open than
Malabar, heavy forests are rarer, many tropical Malayan forms disappear.* * *
The arid flora of the Deccan, of Marwar and Sind, however, hardly enters the
Deccan.* * * As a whole the vegetation of Carnatic is neither rich nor
varied. The climate being very arid except during the north-east monsoon,
the humid flora is entirely absent.* * * The climate of Mysore is much
drier than that of Malabar.* * * The vegetation of Mysore, like that of the
Carnatic, is rather scanty. The level surface of the tableland is frequently
very barren, and the hills are often bare or covered with low scrubby jungle.* *
The vegetation of the plain of the Deccan is not very different from that of
Mysore. The flora is not extensive, the great drought of the hot season being
unfavourable to vegetation.”
We have here the botanical features of two of the nine provinces enu¬
merated above comprising about the whole of South India :*
(1) Malabar in a very extended sense—the humid belt of hilly or
mountainous country extending along the western side of the peninsula from
Southern Gujrat to Cape Comorin; and (2) the Deccan in a very broad
sense; i.e. t the whole comparatively dry tableland of the peninsula east of
Malabar and South of the Gangetic and Indus plains together with the
Coromandel Coast.
As might be expected, such an extensive area with so diverse botanical
features as to constitute two great provinces would be able to make a decent
1 Chapter IV, Botany in Indian Empire , Vol. I.
* Indian Empire in Imperial Gezetteer, Vol. I, p. 163.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 151 )
show of the specimens included in the Sukra Flora. As a matter of fact, a
comparison of the Sukra list with the lists for these two provinces in the
Botanical volume of the Bombay Gazetteer as well as the chapter on Botany
in the Imperial Gazetteer , would show that almost all of the Sukra Flora have
their homes in this whole region taken together. And yet the total strength
of the South Indian Flora, even supposing that so varied characteristics can
be given to any one type, does not probably come up to that of Bengal
(singly considered), and not certainly to the whole Gangetic plain (including
Bengal) described above as a really single Botanical area.
So far as the Sukra Flora is concerned, the following specimens seem
to be rare in the South:
(1) Feronia elephantum (wood apple).
(2) Mimusops hexandra (rdjadana).
(3) Pyrus communis (pear tree, amrita).
(4) Pinus longifolia (sarala, pine).
(5) Juglans regia (aksota, walnut).
(6) Phylanthus distichas.
(7) Myrica sapida (k&sth&mra).
(8) Diospyros melanxylon (kudddla, ebony).
(9) Premna integrifolia (agnimantha).
(10) Cedrus or Pinus deodara (devadaru, Himalayan cedar).
(11) Flacourtia sapida (vikankata).
(12) Betula bhojpatra (bhurja)
(1$) Boswellia serrata (sallaki).
(14) Stephenia hernandifolia (patha).
(15) Diospyros embryopteris (ttnduka).
In the above list of 15 species, the (1), (2), (6), (11), (14) and (15) are not
entirely absent from South India. The other nine are conspicuous by their
absence, The two Pines, longifolia and deodara, Juglans regia, Pyrus com¬
munis, and the Betula bhojapatra are essentially Himalayan, and hence belong
to the North Indian type. The remaining four are mainly Sub-himalayan and
have their habitats generally in the dry deciduous forests of North India.
(D) Indus Plain Flora and Sukra Flora .
The absence of the characteristic Himalayan and North Indian species in
the southern regions or sub-regions, taken separately or together, is a strong
proof against the Sukra Flora being of the southern type. Similarly, we have
to exclude the Indus plain, a Botanical province of North India, also from
claiming the locale of the Sukra Flora For though the area is wide enough
including the Punjab, Sind and Rajputana west of the Aravalli range and
Jumna river, Cutch and Northern Gujrat, and repeats the vegetation of tbc
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 152 )
Sunderbans at the Indus delta, the flora is less copious and richly diversified
and presents essentially the features of arid, deciduous and desert vegetation.
The result is, that some of the more important specimens in Sukra Flora which
are to be found in humid Gujrat and Bengal are entire!}’ absent from this pro¬
vince.
The determination of the geographical limits of the Sukra Flora, positive
and negative, has been guided by both meteorological and botanical consi¬
derations. We have had to find out some one province from among the large
Botanical Provinces of India, which satisfies both the following double sets of
conditions :
(1) A meteorological area which possesses both humid and arid charac¬
teristics, and
(2) a botanical area which can command both Himalayan and plain floras.
The first condition can be fulfilled by either the northern or southern region.
For, meteorologically 1 speaking, there are two moist regions in India: (1) the
western moist region extending from the Gulf of Cambay, and (2) the eastern
moist region comprising the Eastern Himalaya with a narrow strip along the
outer ranges extending north-west as far as the Ravi &c. Any one of these
moist regions together with a neighbouring dry and arid region, eg., the
Peninsular (Deccan', and the area including Eastern Rajputana, a large
part of United Provinces up to Cawnpur, &c., can well be the home of the
Sukra Flora.
But the second test cannot be fulfilled except by a northern region, as we
have seen above.
Hence, by a process of elimination, we get the northern (as well as eastern)
moist region together with a neighbouring arid region, e.g., Eastern Rajputana
as the natural habitat of the Sukra Flora. The Indus Plain among the nine Bota¬
nical Provinces of Hooker is thus excluded as a matter of course ; the remaining
portion of Northern India covering exactly the whole of the Gangetic plain, with
its upper dry and lower humid regions described above, is the home of the
Sukra Flora.
It may be remarked here that this Botanical Province corresponds also to
the sub-tropical zone (23 0 — 34 0 latitude) determined independently by the
application of‘Botanical Statistics * to the Sukra Flora.
3. Literary Evidences .
The consideration of literary evidences would necessarily lead to a historic
treatment of the knowledge of Flora displayed by the makers of Indian literature.
Such a study is expected to yield not only a Botanical Geography of India
defining within approximate limits the locale of the authors and their composi¬
tions, but also a Botanical History of the country giving the approximate periods
1 For these meteorological divisions, see Brandis’ Introduction to his Indian Trees, p.
xviif
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 153 )
during which certain plants began to be cultivated and naturalised in different
parts of India, whether as imports from province to province or as exotics 1
from altogether alien soils. A history of Indian Botany like that of Indian
Mineralogy is thus likely to solve some important questions of Indian Chro¬
nology, as they are really parts of the larger history—that of Indian economic
as well as political life and institutions.
But, unfortunately, the landmarks of Indian literature, Vedic, Epic,
Paur&nik, Tantric, Buddhistic, &c., have not undergone that analytical study
which may enable one to form an estimate of the progress of the Indians in the
knowledge of plants and plant-life. Nor have even individual authors like
PAnini, Charaka, Valmiki, Kalidasa, and others been so thoroughly and search-
ingly studied. The present attempt is, therefore, purely suggestive or tentative,
and not at all exhaustive in any sense.
There are, however, two things which should be specially borne in mind
in any study of literary evidences:
(1) we have to be perpetually on our guard against the fallacy of argu-
mentum ex silentio ; and
(2) we have to discriminate between what is purely a conventional
mention or a reference to the permanent stock-in-trade preserved in floating
literature which does not admit of any anachronisms and limitations of space,
and what is the actual description of the sights and sounds or facts and pheno¬
mena in the locality or the region of experiences familiar to the author.
The errors arising from a neglect of these two conditions cannot, however,
be easily avoided in the present state of our knowledge regarding things
Indian, both physical and human.
A.—Vedic Flora and Sukra Flora .
The Alharva Veda is famous for its references to, and hymns about,
plants. The usefulness of Flora is known by the reciters of the hymns in the
following respects, e.g. t against injury and disease and obstruction of urine
(I, 2, 3), against leprosy (I, 23), as a love-spell (I, 34), against curses and cursers
(II, 7), for victory in disputation (II, 27), against a rival wife (III, 18), for
recovery of virility (IV, 4), to heal serious wounds (IV, 12), against witchcraft,
and to discover sorcerers (IV, 18, 20 and V, 14, 15), against various evils,
enemies and super-human foes (IV, 17, 19, 37), against fever (V, 4), to win and
fix a man’6 love (VII, 38) against a (woman) rival (VII, 113), etc.
The following extracts give a few specimens of the floral lore in the
Alharva Veda
“The berry (pippali)" remedy for what is bruised, and remedy for what
is pierced—that did the gods prepare; that is sufficient for life.'*
1 For an account ot some of these importations from Central Asia, Africa, China,
Malaya, America, &c., see Prain’s Vegetation of the Districts of Htighli-Howrah and 24 Prr-
gunndhs (1905) in the Records of the Botanical Survey of India, pp. 162-168.
* Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 7, p. 859.
20
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 154 )
11 Since thou, O off-wiper (apamarga), 1 hast grown with reverted fruit,
mayest thou repel from me all curses very far from here.”
The amulet of udumvara * bestows various blessings t—
14 Rich in manure, rich in fruit, swadhd and cheer in our house—prosperity
let Dhatar assign to me through the keenness of the amulet of Udumvara. * *
I have seized all the prosperity of cattle, of quadrupeds, of bipeds, and what
grain (there is); the milk of cattle, the sap of herbs, may Brihaspati, may
Savitar confirm to me. * * * As in the beginning, Thou, O forest-tree wast
born together with prosperity, so let Saraswati assign to me fatness of riches.*”
The darbhd plant is thus described
u Hundred-jointed, hard to be stirred, thousand-leaved, uplifting(?)—
the darbha that is a formidable herb, that I bind on thee in order to (prolong)
life-time. * * * In the sky is thy tuft, O herb ; in the earth art thou set; with
thee that hast a thousand joints, do we increase further our life-time.”
The efficacy of the following herbs also is most eloquently dwelt upon—
jangida (XIX, 34, 35), satavdra (XIX, 36), guggulu (XIX, 38), kustha (XIX, 39).
The aswatiha is invoked against enemies (III, 6) and the sami for benefit
to the hair (VI. 30). The land is known to be the mother of healing plants : 4
“These three earths (prithivi) that are there—of them earth (bhvtmi) is the
highest; from off their skin have I seized a remedy.”
The following is the hymn sung by Visw&mitra for the increase of
barley: 5
“ 1. Rise up, become abundant with thine own greatness, O barley ; ruin
all receptacles ; let not the bolt from heaven smite thee.
2. Where we appeal unto thee, the divine barley that listens, there rise
up, like the sky ; be unexhausted, like the ocean.
3. Unexhausted be thine attendants, unexhausted thy heaps; thy besto-
wers be unexhausted; thy eaters be unexhaused.”
The following plants are common to Sukranili and Vedic Literature : 6
Ficus religiosa, (2) Ficus glomerata, (3) Zizyphus jujuba, (4) Gmelina arborea,
(5) Butea frondosa, (6) Acacia catechu, (7) Phoenix sylvestris, (8) Plnus deodara
(9) iEgle marmelos, (10) Flacourtia sapida, (11) Acacia suma, (12) Bombax
malabaricum, (13) Dalbergia sissoo, (14) Diospyros embryopteris. (15) Ficus
bengalensis.
• Ibid , Vol. 7, p. 432.
2 Atharva Veda (Harvard, Vol. 8), pp. 944-46.
» Ibid, pp. 947-950.
4 Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 8, p. 295.
• Ibid, Vol. 8, p. 387.
• For references to plants in Vedic Literaturo, seo Vedic Index, Vol. II, p.690. See also
Macdonell’s Sanskrit Literature (1900), pp. 145-146, and Mr. Bijaychandra Majumdar’s Kcdtc
Names of Plants in the K&rtik number of the Bengali monthly, Bhdrati (Calcutta, 1913.)
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 155 )
Of these some are Himalayan species, some are common all-India cosmopo¬
lites, and others belong to the more or less dry and arid regions. The Vedic
Flora thus indicates the marks of the Indus plain region and the upper Gangetic
plain. So far as Sukra Flora partially coincides with Vedic Flora, the common
geographical influences must be responsible for this. We have seen above that
this area is a part of the larger region covered by the Sukra Flora.
(B) Charaka Flora and Sukra Flora.
Among the fruit-bearing plants, the following species are common to
Charaka Sarphila 1 and Sukraniti : (i) Ficus glomerata, (2) Tamarindus indica,
(3) Santalum album, (4) Citrus medica, (5) Natfclea cadamba, (6) Jonesia asoka, (7)
jEgle marmelos, (8) Feronia elephantum, (9) Mimusops hexandra, (10) Mangifera
indica, (11) Calophyllum inophyllum, (12) Michelia champaka, (13) Phoenix
sylvestris, (14) Pinus longifolia, (15) Punica granatum, (16) Juglans regia, (17)
Zizyphus jujuba, (18) Azadirachta indica, (19) Myrica sapida, (20) Mimusops
hexandra, (21) Pongamia glabra, (22) Areca catechu.
Among the dranyaka t the following species are common to Charaka
Satjthild and Sukraniti : (1) Acacia catechu, (2) Premna integrifolia, (3) Shorea
robusta, (4) Holarrhena antidysenterica, (5) Anogeissus latifolia, (6) Butea fron-
dosa, (7) Alstonia scholaris, (8) Cedrela toona, (9) Cedrus deodara, (10) Carissa
carandas, (11) Balanites roxburghii, (12) Boswellia serrata, (13) Gmelina
arborea, (14) Stephania hernandifolia, (15) Diospyros embryopteris, (16) Ter-
minalia chebula, (17) Semecarpus anacardium, (18) Calotropis gigantea, (19)
Acacia farnesiana, (20) Bombax malabaricum, (21) Terminalia cellerica and (22)
Bassia latifolia.
In the above two lists we have 44 species of the 69 in the Sukra Flora, i.e. t
above 60 per cent. A careful enumeration of all plants in Charaka would show a
higher percentage. In fact, it would not at all be erroneous if we assert that
perhaps the whole of the Sukra Flora is included in the Charaka list of 500
plants divided into 50 pharmacopocial vargas or orders of 10 each. It is not safe
to define the geographical horizon of the Charaka Flora, at any rate it is
certain that, unlike the Vedic Flora, it cannot be assigned solely to the Indus
or the Upper Gangetic plain. Cocos nucifera does not seem to be included in
the list, but Areca catechu is there, and this unmistakably points to humid,
deltaic or littoral vegetation.
This extension of the Charaka Flora beyond the limits of the Punjab, the
home of the first authors of the Charaka cycle, indicates that the whole of
Northern India at any rate, if not portions of the South, must have been known
from sea to sea. Regular trade in medicinal herbs, cultivation or naturalisation
of those that are not indigenous, systematic exploration of forests on hills and
in plains, and such like things that take Ayurvedists and druggists out of the
limits of any one botanical region and make them more or less cosmopolitan,
» For the names of plants in Charaka 8amhitu, see the Marathi work on the Vegetable
Flora of India by Dr. Pandurang Gopal (Poona, 1880 ) f
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 156 )
arc implied in the scientific analysis and classification of the vegetable materia
medica in the text-book of the Punjab masters.
It must be noted also that the possibility of merely hearsay or con¬
ventional references and descriptions of things not personally observed or
experimented upon is not unlikely, though it would be well-nigh impossible
to assert this dogmatically about one or other of the Charakans, Susrutans,
Vdgbhatans, and Chakradattans. Certain it is that in the latter-day schools
of medicine the lists became more and more conventional, mere repro¬
ductions from the writings of the great masters or Risis. There is, however,
another important point with regard to the lists of Flora in the successive
commentaries or abridgments of the medical encyclopaedias. A comparative
study 1 of the Indian Pharmacopaeias would show that Vagbhata, Chakradatta.
Narahari Pandit and Bh&va Misra, while perpetuating the tradition of their
great precursors, have introduced not only new names but also new plants in the
treatises prepared respectively for Western India, Eastern India, Mah&r&stra
and Madhyadesa. While therefore, we admit the existence of a conventional
floating literature on medicinal plants as on other things, which, like a
touch of nature converted the whole of India into a single unit, a common
home of the men of letters, and imparted a family likeness and universal or
all-India character to the literary productions of educated Hindusthan, we
cannot rationally ignore in them the possession, also, of a local colour and pro¬
vincial physiognomy which can be detected only by the patiently investigating
eye of skilful observers.
So far as the Sukra Flora is concerned, we see that its geography is more
extensive than that of the Vedic, but less than or perhaps equal to, that of the
Charaka. If we notice the flora in points which make them differ, we find that
the Vedic and the Charaka are more Himalayan, while the Sukra is more
humid.
(C) Vardha Flora and Sukra Flora .
In the Brihat Satphild of Varflhamihira, botanical facts and phenomena have
been recorded in three chapters. The 29th chapter deals with flowers and plants
and is called Kusumalatddhydya . The 54th is called Dagdrgala and deals with
under-currents, both good and evil, which may be indicated by the position and
growth of plants as well as by other things. The 55th chapter treats of garden¬
ing and horticulture and is named Briksdyurveda. The plants mentioned in
these three chapters may be taken to be those most familiar to the people of
Avanti (in Ujjayini) in the 6th century A.D., for that is the birth-place of
Var&ha. It may be possible to find out the Geography of the Sukra Flora
by comparing the lists furnished in Brihat Samhitd about the Ujjayini Flora
with those in Sukranltt .
1 Materials for such a comparative study have been furnished by Kavirft j BirajAcharan
Gupta of Coochbehar State in the two volumes of the Bengali work, Vanau^adhidarjpa no,
and also in his learned introduction to them.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 157 )
Among the trees mentioned by the Sukra authors as phalinah or fruit¬
bearing, almost all are referred to by Var&hamihira. Only the following 16
species appear to be special to the Sukra Flora: (i) Tamarindus indica, (a)
Santalum album, (3) Citrus medica, (4) Pyrus communis, (5) Myrica sapida,
(6) Morus alba or Morus indica, (7)Spondias mangifera, (8) Pinus longifolia, (9)
Juglans regia or aleurites moluccana, (10) Mimusops hexandra, (11) Pongamia
glabra, (12) Garcinia xanthochymus, (13) Diospyros melanxylon, (14) Phyllan-
thus distichas or Anona reticulata, (15) Areca catechu, and (16) Cocos nucifera.
Here also one must not be blind to the argumentum ex silentio. Mere
silence of Var£hamihira does not point to any plants being unknown or at
any rate unfamiliar to him and his countrymen. Thus among the species men¬
tioned in Sukranfti there are some which are indigenous to, or may be cultivat¬
ed and naturalised in, all parts of India, and there is no reason why these should
be peculiar to the Sukra Flora and not have been mentioned in the Ujjayini
Schedule. Such cosmopolite species are (1) Tamarindus indica, and (2) Phyl-
lanthus distichas or Anona reticulata. Compared with Ujjayiui Flora, the pecu¬
liarity of Sukra Flora is thus more apparent than real.
There remain now 14 species peculiar to Sukra Flora, and this in a list of 35.
A further process of elimination is necessary to find out how far the
Sukra Flora differs from the Ujjayini Flora. The seven species Santalum
album, Citrus medica, Pinus longifolia, Areca catechu, Myrica sapida, Mimusops
hexandra, Pongamia glabra and Juglans regia have a place in the Charaka Flora
of earlier times. There is no special reason why these should not have been
included, at least conventionally, in the Ujjayini list as well, like the cosmopo¬
lites we have just referred so.
The peculiar species of the Sukra Flora are thus reduced to six only :
(1) Pyrus communis (amrita)—rare.
(2) Morus alba or indica (tuda)
(3) Spondias mangifera (&mrfi).
(4) Garcinia xanthochymus (tam&la).
(5) Diospyros melanaxylon (kuddala).
(6) Cocos nucifera (n&rikela)
Among the Aranyaka (wild) and kantakina (thorny) species mentioned by
the authors of the Sukra cycle, the following have not been mentioned in the
Brihat Samhitd : (1) Tectona grandis, (2) Acacia arabica, (3) Garcinia xan¬
thochymus or Cinnamomum tam&la, (4) Holarrhena antidysenterica, (5) Cedrela
toona, (6) Cedrusdeodara, (7) Flacourtia sapida, (8) Carissa carandas, (9) Betula
bhojapatra, (10) Strychnos nux-vomica, (u) Capparis aphylla, (12) Boswellia
serrata, (13) Graelina arborea, (14) Stephania hernandifolia, (15) Terminalia
chebula, (16) Acacia farnesiana.
Here, again, we have to note several cosmopolite species which might be
included in the Ujjayini list: (1) Tectona grandis, (2) Acacia arabica, (3) Holar¬
rhena antidysenterica, (4) Carissa carandas, (5) Acacia farnesiana.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 158 )
Thus we have altogether only 11 species which seem to be special to Suk-
raniti\ and this in a list pf 34.
Here, again, by comparing Chsraka, 1 Ujjayini and Sukra Flora we have
to eliminate six species from the 11 as special to the last. These are Cedrus
deodara, Cedrela toona, Boswellia serrata, Gmelina arborea, Stephania her-
nandifolia and Terminalia chebula.
Thus we have only five species left as peculiar to the Sukra Flora:
(1) Garcinia xanthochymus (T&pinchchhaor tamala).
(2) Flacourtia sapida (vikankata).
(3) Betula bhojapatra (bhojapatra).
(4) Strychnos nux-vomica (visamusthi)
(5) Capparis aphylla (kariraka).
In the Varaha list we find that more than 50 percent, of the Sukra Flora have
been actually mentioned. Adding to them the plants that are very common
to all parts of the country, and also those which must have been known to
VarAhamihira, since they have been familiar even to the Charakans of pre-
Buddhistic times, we have left a very small residue that is peculiar to Sukra
Flora.
It thus appears that all the Flora mentioned in Sukrantti indicate an age
far removed from the days of Islamic and Portuguese influences. On the
strength of botanical evidences, other things remaining the same, there can be
no objection to placing the Sukranlti during the period indicated by the farthest
limit Charaka, and represented by the important land-mark of the sixth century
A.D., the Brihat Samhild.
The close coincidence of VarAha and Sukra Flora leads to another im¬
portant conclusion. This is about the locale . We have seen that the Charaka
Samhtta, being a medical work, had necessarily to be more all-India, ency¬
clopaedic and universal, so far as the vegetable kingdom was concerned. The
Geography of the Charaka is therefore wide as a matter of course. But VarA-
hamihira, who was writing a treatise to guide the rulers of men, might be ex¬
pected to be more local and address himself naturally to the needs of his own
patron Bhoja, Vikramaditya? of Malwa, The chapters on agri-flori-horticulture
in the Brihat SamhitA constitute most probably a section dealing with the Flora
Malwensis of the 6th cent. A. D. The absence of Pinus longifolia , Cedrus
deodara,Betula bhojapatra andother purely Himalayan species in the Varaha
list points to the local character of the Royal Botanical.Garden at Ujjayini. So
also the absence of Areca catechu and Cocos nucifera determines the horizon of
Varaha Flora. The Varaha Flora is thus a local Ujjayini collection and repre¬
sents the Upper Gangetic sub-region of Hooker’s Botanical Provinces.
1 Seo the list of Plants in Charaka in Vamiusadhidarpuna , a Bengali work in two
volumes by Kavir&ja Gupta of Coochbehar (1908-1909). Also chapter VII of Gondal’s History
of Aryan Medicinal Science (1896), and Kaviraj Avin&s Chandra Kaviratna’s English
Translation of Charaka Sarphitd (1890-96), pp. 18-92.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 159 )
Besides the close similarity in the lists of Flora between VarAha and Sukrd*
the very theory of Horti-Floriculture advocated in the treatises raises important
issues regarding the time and place of Sukraniti. The two works may be com¬
pared on three topics: (i) planting of trees, (2) watering of trees, (3) nourish¬
ment of trees. According to the parallel passages and various readings in Mr.
Oppert's notes, it appears that the theory of Sukraniti about watering and
nourishment is found in only one text—the Bengal manuscript in the posses¬
sion of Dr. RAmdAs Sen.
Both in matter and language the Sukraniti shows evidences of quotation,
incorporation, paraphrasing and adaptation from Brihat SamhitA by copyists
or authors who knew geographical conditions more humid and fertile than
those in VarAha’s place. This has been described in a subsequent section. 1
The geographical limits common to Vedic, Charaka, VarAhamihiran and
Sukra Floras comprise the Upper Gangetic plain, as they include definitely the
Malwa regions. The Sukra Flora, therefore, covers this tract together with the
northern regions of Himalayan flora and the south-eastern regions of the Lower
Gangetic or Deltaic flora.
(D) Kdliddsic Flora and Sukra Flora .
The Flora of KAlidAsa in the 18 cantos of Raghuvaijisam from the nature
of the case is an epitome of the Flora Indica known to the world of letters in his
days. Like the Rdmdyanam and Mahdbhdralam and many of the PurAqas, the
Raghuvattisam is an intensely national epic, the embodiment of Hindu India, of
its ideals and ambitions, and covers the Geography, Zoology, Botany, Ethnology,
and History of Hindusthan from PrAgjyotisa on the east to the land of the
PArasikas on the west, and from the territory of the KirAtas on the North to the
island of Ceylon on the south. The Raghuvamsa Flora is, therefore, no touchstone
of the Sukra Flora as to its geography, though historically speaking, it supplies
a good catalogue of plants, like that in Brihat SamhitA, which were indigenous
to and cultivated in India during the period between Hellenistic and Islamic
influences.
But the Mephaduta of KAlidAsa in which the cloud has been entrusted
with message from a spot in Central India (Vindhyas) to a city on Mount
KailAsa in the Himalayas is more restricted in its botany. “ In the first-half
of the poem the Yaksa describes* * * * Mount Amrakuta on whose peak it
will rest after quenching, with showers, the forest fires ; the NarmadA winding at
the foot of the Vindhya Hills; the town of VidisA (Bhilsa) and the stream of the
Vetravati (Betwa); the city of Ujjayini in the land of Avanti; the sacred region
of Kuruksetra; the Ganges and the mountain from which she sprang, white
with snow-fields; till Alaka on mount KailAsa is finally reached." As might
1 See Sukra IV, iv, 92-93, 105-108, 107-108, 110 112, also p. 237 of Opperfs edition
fop various readings. Vide Brihat Saiyhita LV, 9, 12, 16, 17.
2 Extract from Macdonell’s Sanskrit Literature quoted by Mr S. C, Sarkar, M.A., of
tho Provincial Civil Service in the introduction to his English vorsical rendering of
Meghaduta (City Hook Society, 1906). See this work for the interesting geographical and
botanical notes collected from the researches of Indian and European Scholars.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 160 )
be expected, tbe Meghaduta Flora is more extensive than Var&hamibiran, as it
covers the whole ground of mid-Arydvarta ii> tbe longitudinal direction
and includes tbe latter as only one of the types represented in it. The
Himalayan flora has a special place in it, as the whole Second Book of tbe
1 Cloud-Messenger ' is devoted to a description of the city on Alak&. But the
eastern humid and littoral vegetation is entirely lacking in it.
Tbe 31 species enumerated by Mr. Manamohan Chakravarti 1 as constitut¬
ing the Meghaduta Flora thus comprise the Malwa (Var&hamihiran) and
Himalayan Flora, but exclude the Lower Gangetic. The Sukra Flora coincides
in one of its aspects with this whole flora of Meghaduta, but in another respect
goes beyond its limits.
The Geography of Sukra vegetation therefore includes that of Megha-
dutam, i.e. t mid-Arydvarta as a sub-region, and Eastern Aryfivarta as another
sub-region, bqt falls short of that of the Raghuvamsam which includes also the
India south of the Vindhyas.
4. Concluding Remarks .
We have tentatively determined the Geography of the Sukra Flora by
three independent evidences:
(1) Botanical Statistics proves it to be ’sub-tropical.’
(2) Ecology (including Meteorology and Phyto-geography) proves it to be
1 Gangetic,’ according to the nomenclature of Hooker.
(3) Literature or Comparative Botany proves it to be less Himalayan
than Vedic and Charaka (and perhaps Meghaduta) t less encyclopaedic than
Raghuvaiysam, more Himalayan than Vardha, more extensive than Vardha
as including (1) Himalayan and (2) Deltaic, more extensive than Vedic and
Meghadutam as including Deltaic, and probably co-extensive with Charaka.
The Vedic Flora represents Indus Plain Province (Punjab, Sindh, etc.),
the Charaka, though the work of an inhabitant of the Indus Plain, rep¬
resents the flora of both the Indus and the Gangetic Plains (of Hooker),
as well as of the Himalayas, i.e ., the whole of Northern India, Vardha
Flora represents Malwa and the Upper Gangetic sub-region, Raghuvamsam
represents the Flora Indica according to the conditions of Poetic Art, and
Meghadutam represents the Upper Gangetic sub-region together with a portion
of the Himalayas.
The Sukra Flora thus represents the Upper Gangetic plain, Himalayan
regions as well as the humid deltaic and littoral sections of Eastern India.
As for chronology, literary history proves the Sukra Flora to be
» Quoted by Mr. 8. C. Sarkar in the Notes to his English Meghaduta . Mr. Ohakravarti
takes Lodhra to be Bassia latifolia. Really it is Symplocus racemosa , while madhuka
would be Bassia latifolia. Soe Griffith’s Specimens of old Indian Poetry (P&nlni Office,
1014) for the whole poem in English verse.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 161 )
Islamic 1 and docs not prevent it from being at least as old as Charaka. Now
Pre-lslamic means the period as late as the 8th century in Sindh, 10th century
in the Punjab, 11th century in Kanauj (Upper Gangetic Plain) and isth century
(1193 A.p.) at PAtaliputra and Gauda (Lower Gangetic plain). But, as our
geography docs not take us beyond the botanical limits of the Gangetic plain,
the Sukra Flora may be placed at any period between the 6th century B.C.
and 12th century A.D. And if the fact of incorporation and adaptation from
VarAhamihira be admitted, both the Sukra Flora and the Sukra authors
(at any rate, the Eastern copyists of Sukraniti) have to be placed after
the 6th century A.D.
Section 4.
Forestry .
(a) Mon-economic.
The Forests are important items in Indian social economy according to the
authors of the Sukra cycle. The third and fourth stages or dsramas of Hindu
life called V&naprastha and Yati or Sanydsa respectively have to be spent in the
forests.* There are elaborate rules in all Smriti S&stras regarding this retiring
to, and life in, forests. The Vdnaprastha stage is compulsory on all the four
castes, but Yati on Brahmanas only. The function of men in the third stage
is to restrain passions and activities, and in the fourth is to try to attain salva¬
tion.
Forests are the resort of people for non-SAstric motives also. Among
the general rules of morality we are told that one should prefer life in a forest*
1 It would be interesting to study the history of cultivated plants in India. Such a
work should be divided into two branches : (1) Geological—giviug an account of the various
elemental forces that have led to the existence of Malayan, Chino-Japanese, European,
African and oven American species in India, and (2; Historical—recording the successive
efforts by which Chinese, Persian and European plants have been naturalised in India.
Thus we know that tobacco and potato are very modern introductions due to the
Portuguese (and other European) nations. So also the Mussalman Emperors were great
patrons of Economic Botany, especially of Fruitery. We read in the Ayeen Akbari
[Glawdin’s Translation (1788), Vol. 1., pp. 02-99]: “His Majesty is exceedingly fond of
fruit; and by the great encouragement that he has given to the cultivation of fruit-trees,
skilful people have come with their families from Persia and Tartary, and settled in
this country,” See Watt’s Dictionary of the Economic Products of India and Dy mock’s
Vegetable Materia Medica of Western India, for the history and uses of Indian plants.
Cf. also, “ Opium was first introduced into this country from Arabia. Its spread in India
is synchronous with tho advent of the Mahomedans who had adopted it as a suitable
substitute for fermented liquors, which their religion discountenances. Some more
drugs which happened to be introduced into India during the Mahouiedan rule are Alu
(Prunus bocaHensis), Badian ( IUicium anisatum), Banfasha ( Viola odorata), Gaozban
( Onosma bracteatum), etc." —History of Aryan Medicul Science by the Thakur Sahib of
Goudal, pp. 125-127. (Edition, 1896).
* Sukra IV, iv. 1-5.
Sukra HI, 576-677.
21
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 162 )
to being dependent on others. Then the exile of Rama in a forest 1 by Dasa-
ratha’s command also points to the forest being a resort of men. There are
also persons who retire to forests* after knowing of complaints against them.
The law enjoins that the king should summon such people to the court to
answer the charge.
The law of the realm has to provide for several classes of cases pertaining to
forest. Thus if a bound-down man violates the limitations imposed upon him
when crossing a forest* or going through a difficult region, he is not guilty and
should not be punished. So also in the cases of offences committed in forests 4
ije. t inaccessible regions where human evidences, eg. t witnesses, &c., are not
easily available, Sukracharyya ordains that divine S&dhanas or ordeals should
be resorted to. Then again among the several instances of trial by peers we
read that” foresters* are to be tried with the help of foresters.”
The existence of both religious and legal regulations points to forests being
important topographical features of the country of SukrAcharyya. So they
are; for among the general rules we read that (i) one should not visit solitary
forests, 6 unoccupied houses, and cremation grounds even by day, and (2) one
should always travel with companions, and while travelling, should not take
rest on roads or in forests. 7
That forests are familiar sights to the authors of the Sukra cycle would
be evident from the characteristic analogy drawn by them in the following lines.
*' One should bring to bay or discipline, by the hook of knowledge, the elephant
of the senses which is running to and fro in a destructive manner in the vast
forest* of enjoyable things.”
The statesmen of the Sukra cycle, therefore,, are judicious enough to
devise ways and means for utilising the forests, in order to promote the pros¬
perity and importance of their state. They have prescribed hunting excursions
among the functions of the king. 41 He should sport with tigers, peacocks, birds
and other animals of the forest,* and in the course of the hunting should kill
the wild ones.” The Arlhas&slra' 0 of Kautilya is more explicit on the point.
We read that Chandragupta had a hunting forest exclusively for his own use.
It was provided with only one entrance and had a canal running round it to
ward off intrusion. Inside were planted fruit-trees, thornless trees, &c. There
roamed at large not only the wilder games, but also some of the wilder ones,
deprived of their natural offending weapons. * * * Besides the imperial hunting
forest, there was another public forest thrown open to all persons willing to
hunt.”
The forests are, like mines, important sources of Government revenue
according to the financiers of the Sukra cycle. The Sumantra or Finance
1 Sukra II, 63. * Sukra III, 60.
• Sukra IV, v. 214-215. T Sukra III, 124.
• Sukra IV, v, 210-211. * Sukra 1,103-194.
4 Sukra IV, v, 509-11. * Sukra I, 665-666.
• Sukra IV, v, 44-46. 10 Law’s Studies in Hindu Polity .
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( 163 )
minister has to take a census 1 of the forests and study the income accruing
from them.
The forests have been utilised by the Sukra statesmen for military pur¬
poses also. Among the various classes of forts we have .the vanadurga or
forest fort,* which is encircled by huge thorns and clusters of trees. This
type of forts is superior* to that which is surrounded by ditches and also that
which is protected by walls of bricks, mud and stones. It is, however, inferior
to the desert-forts, water-forts and hill-forts.
Then an important division of the army seems to consist of people living
in forests, who ordinarily are independent and do not perhaps acknowledge
the suzerainty of the ruler. The king should, however, be sagacious enough to
make use of them for his military defence. The section of the army composed
of such recruits is called sddyasko 4 i.e. t new or raw, as opposed to the maula,
i.e., standing or permanent. It is also called agulmaka i.e, t one which is not
officered and divided into regiments by the state, but brings its own officers
and fighting apparatus. The Kiratas and people living in forests who are
dependent on their own resources and strength constitute this division of the
state army.
It is one of the counsels of diplomacy to try to win over these forest tribes
to one’s side by hook or by crook. ” Peace should be made even with andryas*
for otherwise they can overpower the ruler by attack ; ” whereas, on the
contrary, if the ruler be wise enough to grant them timely concessions, reward,
&c., they may stand him in good stead in times of emergency by making the
enemy’s progress impossible. u Just as a cluster of bamboos cannot be destroyed
if surrounded by thick thorny trees, so the ruler should be like a bamboo
surrounded by clusters.” Such foresters as enter Government service or are
otherwise useful to the king should have quarters reserved for them just outside
the city limits.®
(6) Economic.
The economic importance of forests now remains to be considered. They
are the sources of fuel, fodder, grass and timber. According to the Sukra states¬
men the king should lay siege 7 to the enemy’s country from such a position
as to destroy 11 carefully the people who help the enemy by carrying wood,
water and provisions.” The military manoeuvres and tactics should also be
dilatory and spread over a long period of time—in order that 11 provisions of the
enemy may be cut short and food and fuel diminished.” Again, ” the power¬
ful should coerce the enemy by stopping the supplies of water, provisions,
fodder, grass, &c„ in an unfavourable region.”
Not only in warlike operations but also in the normal functions of states,
Sukracharyya recognises the value of forests in the ordinary secular life of
~~ ' 1 Sukra II, 207-8, 211-212. 4 Sukra IV, vii, 22-28.
* Sukra IV, vi, 5. • Sukra IV, vii, 482-84.
> Sukra IV, vi, 11-12. • Sukra I, 508-12.
’ Sukra IV, vii, 570-78,
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 164 )
the people. The regulations relating to the site 1 for the building of the capita]
pay due heed to this. The place is to be one which 11 abounds in various
trees, plants and shrubs, and is rich in cattle, birds, and other animals,
is endowed with good sources of water and supplies of grains, and is happily
provided with resources in grasses and woods. ” Then, again, the collection
of grasses and woods in forests has been recognised as one of the occupations
and means of livelihood, and it is important enough to be reckoned in Sukra’s
comprehensive scheme of taxation. 41 The king should realise one-third, one-
fifth, one-seventh, one-tenth or one-twentieth from the collectors of grasses,*
woods &c.”
Last but mot least in economic importance are (i) the kantakinah * or
thorny trees which according to Sukrflchflryya should be planted in forests,
(2) phalinah * or fruit-bearing trees which should be planted very near the
village, and (3) other expansive trees, shrubs,* creepers, &c., which are to be
carefully planted in villages, if domestic, in forests, if wild.
The classification is not at all scientific, as we have noted in a previous
section. All the plants enumerated by Sukra might have been mentioned to¬
gether in one list, for they all belong to the 4 Flowering’ or Phanerogam division
according to the Taxonomy of modern Botanists. Economically speaking, again,
this classification serves the purpose well so far as it goes, i.e. % as a convenient
means of knowing which species may be planted in and near the homestead,
and which species should be planted at a distance. But it is not the intention
of the Sukra authors, nor should we interpret the classification to mean, that
the Aranyaka or wild and forest flora are in any way less useful to man than
those which have been regarded as domestic. For, from the standpoint of
Utilitarian fjotany, both the classes are of equal importance.
SukrAchAryya has adopted only one principle of economic classification,
that into domestic and wild. The result is that each of these groups may
be sub-divided (a) geographically into evergreen, deciduous, or otherwise as we
have seen in a previous section, 6 and (b) economically into medicinal, indus¬
trial, etc.
1 Sukra I, 425-428. Cf. K&mandaki Niti, iv, 60-58.
* Sukra IV, ii, 237-38.
• Sukra IV, iv, 113-114.
4 Sukra IV, iv, 108.
• Sukra IV, iv, 123-124.
* The deciduous forests yield s&l, teak, sandal, ebony, and valuable genera, e.g., Termi¬
nals, Anogeissus, Acacia (Acacia catechu) and other trees that supply the wood oils and
varnishes largely used in the domestic life of the inhabitants of the country. * * Among
trees characteristic of evergreens may be mentioned Terminalia, Cedrela toona, the wild
mango, &c. Pinus longifolia .flourishes at lower elevations and finally mixes with the
deciduous forests of the plains. See the Chapter on Forests in the Economic Volume of the
Indian Empire in Imperial Gazetteer Series, and Brihat Samhitd LXX 2-4, for Hindu ideas
about Timber.
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Uses of Plants.
44 There is no plant 1 which has no medicinal properties,” says SukrA-
charyya; and all the plants mentioned by the Sukra authors have one or other
use in Hindu Pharmacopoeia. The fact that Charaka mentions almost all of
these in his materia medico points to this.
The Sukra Flora, whether belonging to the domestic or wild class contains:
(i) Timber trees, eg., Capparis aphylla, Garcinia xanthochymus, Calo-
phyllum inophyllum, Bombax malabaricum, Feroniaelephantum, jEgle marmelos,
Zizyphus jujuba, Terminalia arjuna, Bassia latifolia, Ficus bengalensis, Ficus
glomerata, Ficus religiosa, Phoenix sylvestris, Areca catechu, Dendrocalamus
strictus, &c;
(а) Food plants, e.g. t Capparis aphylla, Garcinia xanthochymus, Flacourtia
sapida, Bombax malabaricum, ASgle marmelos, Feronia elephantum, Mangifera
indica, Mimusops elengi, Bassia latifolia, Aleurites moluccana, &c.;
(3) Famine plants, eg., Bassia latifolia, Ficus bengalensis, glomerata,
geligiosa, Santalum album, Phoenix sylvestris, &c.;
(4) Fermented drinks, eg %9 Bassia latifolia, Calotropis gigantea, Cocos
nucifera, Phoenix sylvestris, Saccharum officinalis, &c.;
(5) Oil-yielding plants, e.g., Bassia latifolia, Semecarpus anacardium,
Pongamia glabra, Butea frondosa, Terminalia bellerica, Chebula, Bassia
latifolia, Cocos nucifera, Santalum, album, &c.;
(б) Fibrous plants, eg., Butea frondosa, Calotropis gigantea, Ficus reli¬
giosa, bengalensis, Morus alba, Cocos nucifera, Phoenix sylvestris, &c.;
(7) Dyes, eg., Garcinia xanthochymus, Zizyphus jujuba, Butea frondosa,
Acacia arabica, suma, catechu, Terminalia chebula, Woodfordia floribunda,
Artocarpus lakoocha, Tectona grandis, &c.;
(8) Gums and resins, e.g., Spondias mangifera, Bombax malabaricum,
Feronia elephantum, Mangifera indica, Semecarpus anacardium, Butea fron¬
dosa, Terminalia bellerica, &c.;
(9) Vegetable soaps, eg, Acacia arabica ;
(10) Vegetable poisons, eg., Semecarpus anacardium, Strychnos nux-
vomica.
(11) Vegetable antidotes to Snake-bites, e.g., Euphorbia neriifolia ;
(1a) Fodder, e.g., Dendrocalamus strictus, Cicer arietinum, iEgle marmelos,
Cedrela toona, Butea frondosa, Ficus bengalensis, &c.; and
(13) Sacred Flora.
We have to notice in connexion with the economics of Forest Flora
that some of the plants in Sukraniti are valuable from their uses in reli¬
gious rites and ceremonies of the Hindus. One of the reasons for the inclusion
of Butea frondosa, Calotropis gigantea, Ficus glomerata, religiosa, Mangifera
indica, Citrus medica, Melia azadirachta, lonesia asoka,iEgle marmelos, Michelia
champaka, etc., in the Sukra Flora might be due to their importance in Hindu
religious life.
* Sukra II, 254-255. ~ ' ~ ~
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We have not mentioned the various uses 1 which people make of the
plants, trees, or shrubs that have not been included in the two lists given by
Sukra but referred to incidentally. Some of those plants which have been men¬
tioned casually, e.g. t cotton, bamboo, &c., might be well-included in the two lists.
The multifarious uses of the cereals, &c., whether as edibles or industrial
ingredients, have also been purposely avoided here, since, though they may, like
the others, be treated in connexion with forests and forest produce, they have
not been mentioned by the Sukra authors separately as forming a class by
themselves. All these casual references will be treated in a subsequent
section in connexion with the uses made of them by Sukrficharyya.
It must have been clear from the foregoing account that each of the
plants mentioned by the Sukra authors serves more purpses than one, and that
it is not possible to make any classification, from the standpoint of Economic
Botany, without running the risk of overlapping and cross division. Incident¬
ally also we are led to think that the country of Suki Acharyya is not a purely
agricultural one, but is industrial as well. In fact, among the 64 arts or kalds
we have several connected with plants. These come under two heads: (1)
Medical Botany and (2) Industrial Botany.
Like mineralogy, Medical Botany is an important branch of Ayurveda;
and among the 10 kalds mentioned in this science, we have, according to
Sukracharyya, the following five pertaining to the vegetable kingdom alone,
e.g. t (1) distillation of wines and spirituous liquors from flowers, (2) extrication
of thorns (3) planting, grafting and preservation of plants, (4) use of prepara¬
tions from sugarcanes, (5) mixtures of metals and medicinal plants.
Wines .
References to wine and spirituous drinks are frequent in Sukraniti:
(1) One of the 64 kalas is the distillation of wines 9 and spirituous
liquors from flowers, &c.
(2) Three general rules of morality have reference to liquor and enjoin
temperance upon the people :
(i) One should not visit liquor-houses at night. 4
(ii) One should not sell liquor.*
(iii) One should not get intoxicated with spirituous liquors.*
(3) Drinking, however, is better than other vices :
(i) “ Even the king who is a drunkard 7 is good, but not he who is
very angry and addicted to women. For the severe man
irritates or alienates the subjects, but the other destroys the
1 See the Botanical Volume of the Bombay Gazetteer , Economic Volume of the Indian
Empire in Imperial Gazetteer ^ Chapters on Agriculture and Forests), and also Watt's
Dictionary of the Economic Products of India .
* Sukra IV, iii, 141-47. • Sukra III, 68-04.
* Sukra IV. iii. 141. • Sukra III, 242.
Sukra III, 57-69. T Sukra IV, i, 124-25.
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castes only." It is evident that according to Sukra morality
the vice which leads to civic and political deterioration or
ruin is of a blacker dye than that which touches the social
life only.
(ii) “ The man who drinks wine 1 is deprived of his intelligence
and loses his business.'* But the result is not very criminal.
(iii) Moreover, “ passion and anger are greater intoxicants than
wine.' Greed is the cause of destruction of the life and
property of subjects.'* Hence the king should give up these
three.
(4) With regard to temperance, Sukra authors really follow the via media.
For rulers as well as for people Sukracharyya advises the golden mean :•
(i) Of the man who drinks wine excessively, intelligence dis¬
appears.
(ii) But wine, drunk according to some measure, increases the talent,
clarifies the intelligence, augments patience, and makes the
mind steadfast; but otherwise it is ruinous.
(iii) Sensuousness and anger are like wine and should be duly in¬
dulged in—the former for the maintenance of the family, the
latter against enemies.
(5) The laws of the land with regard to wines are stated below:
(i) Without the permission of the king, the following are not to
be done by the subjects—drinking, distillation of wines. 4
(ii) The Ganja house (liquor house) or tavern should be kept outside
the village and the drunkards should be kept there. The
king should never allow drinking* of liquor in his kingdom
in the day time.
Plants in relation to other kalds.
Besides Agri-flori-horti-arbori-sylvi-cultural facts and phenomena re¬
corded in Sukraniti, there are the industrial* or manufactural aspects of
Economic i>. Utilitarian Botany referred to casually by the Sukra authors.
The Periplus mentions, among other articles of trade that passed through
the ports on the Arabian and Bengal coasts in the first century A. D.,
pepper, betel, spice, wine, wheat, sandal, aghil (kind of black aromatic wood).
These uses of flora as commercial merchandise, i>., articles of trade or as raw
materials for the thousand and one arts and industries in secular life demand
1 Sukra IV, i, 126. 4 Sukra I, 608-8
* Sukra IV, i, 127-129. * Sukra IV, iv, 89-90.
' Sukra I, 229-283.
* See Baden Powell's Punjab Manufactures (1872) pp. 74-91, 203-14, Bird wood’s
Handbook to the Indian Section (Paris Universal Exhibition, 1878) pp. 77-79,88-84, Maffey’s
Monograph on Wood Carving (U. P. 1908) pp. 10-14, Wales’ Monograph on Wood Carving
(Bombay, 1902) pp. 2-8, also the historical works on Indian art quoted several times.
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our attention here. The mention of or allusion to these industrial facts in
Sukranlti is to be noticed mainly in the sections dealing with the 64 kalds and
with the list of artisans to be maintained by the state, but should also be sought
here and there and everywhere in the treatise. References to construction
of bridges, boats, cars, chariots, war-implements, arms and weapons, wooden
images, temples, palaces, forts, ploughs, &c ( , as well as other processes and
products that point to the utilisation of timber and the art of the carpenter, are
instances in point, and bespeak the existence of timber-merchants as well as
various grades of wood-carvers and carpenters connected with domestic, re¬
ligious, architectural, military and agricultural arts.
We have also noted the Ayurvedic preparations from the vegetable drugs
of the country mentioned in Sukraniti, as well as the trade in medicinal herbs,
suggested by various passages in it. We have already noted the mention of
honey as a floral produce.
Other kalds or industries connected with plants are (1) cleansing,
polishing, dyeing, &c # , of wooden vessels, 1 (a) preparation of boats, chariots and
conveyances* (3) preparation of threads 3 and ropes, (4) weaving of fabrics by
various threads,* (5) extraction of oil from seeds, 1 (6) climbing of trees,* (7)
preparation of vessels with bamboo, straws,’ &c., and (8) making and preserva¬
tion of betels.*
(c) Administration.
Sukraniti thus bears testimony to the varied importance of forests in the
economy of social life. The Sukra statesmen, therefore, have organised a
special department of the state to look after the interests involved in its
vegetable resources.
The department is broadly divisible into two sections: (1) Parks, public
grounds or pleasure-gardens and (2) Forests, strictly so called.
The Sukra statesmen advise the king to give away lands for the gods,
for parks and public grounds, 9 and for dwelling-houses to the peasants,” but for
no other purpose. Among the general laws of the land we have, “you must
never obstruct the tanks, wells, parks, 10 boundaries, &c.” The parks are the
~ • Sukra IV, iii, 167-168.
1 Sukra IV, iii, 173. The uses and classes of timber and all such questions relating
to the “ strength of materials ” have been detailed in Yukti-kalputaru. This work has beeu
utilised by Rftjendr&lal in his description of Hindu Furniture and Prof. Radhakumud iu
the History of Indian Shipping, cf. abo Brihat Samhitd .
* Sukra IV, iii, 174.
4 Sukra IV, iii, 175. See some of the traditions connected with the origin of the
weaving art in pp. 2-8 of Silberrad's Monograph on Cotton Fabrics (&c. p. 1898), the chapter
on Fibrous Manufactures in Baden Powell’s Punjab Manufactures, pp. 74-91, and Birdwood’s
Paris Universal Exhibition 1878, pp. 88-110. of. also Thurston’s Monograph on Cotton Fabric
Industry (Madras, 1897) and Twigg’s Carpet making in the Bombay Presidency (1907).
* Sukra IV, iii, 187. • Sukra IV, iii, 198.
* Sukra IV, iii, 188. • Sukra II, 428-424.
* Sukra IV, iii, 190. 10 Sukra I, 601-602.
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resorts of people as well the king for recreation ; and Sukrdcharyya advises the
ruler to cultivate social habits in such places. “In parks 1 and places of
entertainment, the king should carefully indulge in enjoyments with the people,
women, actors, musicians, poets, and magicians.” The encyclopaedic scheme of
general culture devised by the Sukra statesmen is thus adapted to make of the
king a perfect gentleman according to the ideas of the time, and quite up to date
in notions, tastes, and sentiments.
Parks do not seem to have been insignificant features of social life in Sukra’s
days. They are important enough to have given rise to special classes of
skilled artisans. So the advice is that among goldsmiths, gunners, miners, &c.,
who deserve the patronage and * protection * of the state should be included
men who “construct parks, 1 artificial forests and pleasure-gardens.” Nor
is this all; they are also considerable enough to have been regarded as important
items of state 1 consumption.* The expenditure on parks Is also definitely men¬
tioned as one that belongs to the upabhogya 5 class.
The second section of the Forest Department has jurisdiction over forests
properly so called. The parks* are meant for health, recreation, enjoyment,
&c., and constitute the spending department pure and simple; whereas the
forests, as we have seen in the previous section, are important sources of
national wealth as well as Government revenue. Both these sections, however,
are under the management and control of an officer, called the drdmddhipati 1 or
the Superintendent of Parks and Forests. The qualifications of the Forest-
officer, according to SukrAcharyya, should be a sound knowledge of agri-flori-
horti-culture. He is to “know the causes of the growth® and development of
flowers and fruits, the methods of planting and curing trees by the administra¬
tion of proper soil and water at the suitable time, and the various uses of plants
as medicinal drugs.”
The Forest-officer is called kupyddhyak$a in the Arthasdstra of CliAn-
akya. 7 He (i) is in charge of the imperial hunting forest, (2) public hunting
forest, and (3) has to perform a duty in connexion with the live-stock, viz., the
capture, when needed, of birds and beasts that live in the forests under his
jurisdiction.
1 Sukra I, 661-62.
* Sukra II, 88.
* Sukra II, 689-91.
4 Seo the description of Parks and Forests ill Kamandaki , XIV, 27-42. Kamandaka
has devised the scheme of a regulated and restrained indulgence in Mrigaya or hunting
and sportsmanship for the king, by purposely allowing the construction of such parks and
forests. According to him, these are the necessary institutions of a state, and hence
inevitable charges upon the public revenues, for otherwise the king may be tempted to
undertake “wild goose chase" and indulge in excessive hunting which would thus
degenerate into a vicious vyasaua.
* Sukra II, 240.
* Sukra II, 317-819.
1 Soe in the Modern Review for August , 1911, the paper on the Department of Live*
stock in Chandragupta’s Administration by Narendranath Law.
22
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The great assembly (Mahdsabhd) of the village, the unit of administration
in the Chola Empire, was divided into several committees—one of which was
elected for the supervision of gardens.
The following extract from Mr. Aiyangar’s Ancient India' gives an idea of
the importance of flower-gardens in mediaeval Chola life (800-1100 A.D.): 44 The
third published inscription records that a certain Perran Adittan of the Chola
country purchased two pieces of land, and made over both pieces to the villagers
for maintaining a flower-garden. * * * Having received in full the purchase-
money and the revenue of the land and having exempted the flower-garden (and
the land assigned) for the maintenance of the garden from taxes for as long as
the moon and the sun exist, we the assembly engraved this on stone.”
We are not sure if, besides having a knowledge of the matters connected
with the direct utility of forests, the Superintendent of Parks and Forests in
Sukraniti and Arthasdstra is to have also a knowledge of their indirect utility,
e.g. , 41 that through the influence which they exercise upon climate, the regula¬
tion of moisture, the stability of the soil, the healthiness and beauty of the
country and allied subjects.” That this topic, however, was not wholly unstudied
by the Hindus of yore may be demonstrated by references to Chapters XXIX,
LlV, and LV of Varahamihira's Brihat Samhitd t which, 41 although an astrologi¬
cal work, contains,’’ according to Dr. Kern, 44 important astronomical data,
and its value for geography, architecture, sculpture, etc., is unequalled by any
Sanskrit work as yet published.”
In the following section we have quoted Varahamihira’s ideas about the
influence of plants on (1) other plants and (2) climate. Varahamihira’s theory
of Sylviculture guarantees the forecast of rain, storm, drought, health, famine,
destructive fire, disease, &c., from the growth or otherwise of certain plants.
The following extract from Encyclopaedia Britannica supplies interesting
information regarding Forestry :*
44 In early times there was practically no forest-management. As long as
the forests occupied considerable areas, their produce was looked upon as
the free gift of nature, like air and water; men took it, used it, and even
destroyed it without let or hindrance. With the gradual increase of popula¬
tion and the consequent reduction of the forest area, proprietary ideas developed;
people claimed the ownership of certain forests and proceeded to protect them
against outsiders. Subsequently the law of the country was called in to help
in protection, leading to the promulgation of special forest law. By degrees
it was found that mere protection was not sufficient and that steps must be
taken to enforce a more judicious treatment. The teaching of natural science
and political economy was brought to bear upon the subject, so that now
forestry has become a special science.”
The history of forest administration in British India is being given from
the same source : 41 With the advent of British rule forest destruction became
1 Pp. 160, 164,169. .
• Article on Forests and Forestry in Encyclopaedia Britannica, llth Edition.
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more rapid than ever. * * * Then railways came and with their extension the
forests suffered anew, partly on account of the increased demand for timber
and firewood, and partly on account of the fresh impetus given to cultivation
along their routes. Ultimately, when failure to meet the requirements of
public works was brought to notice it was recognised that a grievous mistake
had been made in allowing the forests to be recklessly destroyed. Already in
the early part of the 19th century sporadic efforts were made to protect the
forests in various parts of the country; and these continued intermittently; but
the first organised steps were taken about the year 1855. * * In 1864 an
organised state department was established/’
The importance of forests in Indian life is thus described by Mr. S.
Eardley-Wilraot, Inspector-General of Forests in the Economic Volume of the
Indian Empire 1 in the Imperial Gazetteer Series: “ The grazing which they
annually afford to countless herds assumes a special value in years of drought,
when it renders material assistance in saving from starvation the cattle upon
which the agriculture of the country depends. They afford the villagers who
live in their vicinity a ready supply of material for house-building and thatching,
of fuel, and of minor forest products, which add substantially to the comforts
of their life. And the use of forest leaves as manure for the cultivator’s fields
has already assumed large dimensions.”
About the Hindu idea regarding Protection of forests and trees we have
the following from the Siddh&nta Dlpikd for December, 1906
11 Dewan Bahadur R. Raghunath Rao writes in the Madras Standard as
follows I am afraid this is not generally known to the European public what
the feelings and opinions of the Hindus are regarding forests and trees. Their
religion tells them that trees have souls like men; that cutting down a living
tree is as bad as killing a living man ; that their twigs, even branches, leaves,
when absolutely required, should be removed without any harm to the trees j
that only dried trees should be cut down for fuel; that forests should not be
destroyed because, in addition to other reasons, they are the residence of the
third and fourth Asramas of the Dwijas ; that trees also are the tabernacles df
God, and that to plant a tree is a virtuous act, and so on.
“The Hindus do not and cannot therefore advocate the indiscriminate
destruction of forests. There is a belief that one is allowed to live in a more
pleasant world than this, so long as the trees planted by him here exist.. Any
indiscriminate destruction of trees is very abhorrent to a true Hindu.”
Section 5.
Horti-Flori-Arboriculture.
The gardener and weaver of garlands are two of the familiar members of
the community described by the authors of the Sukra cycle. It is their arts that
supply the analogy for a judicious * exploitation.’ Sukra says : “ The gardener
1 See the chapter on Forests for an account of their economic ami financial import*-
anoe in modern India.
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collects flowers and fruits, 1 after having duly nourished the trees with *care.
The collector of taxes is to be like him.” Again, 11 the best king is he who, by
following the practice of the weaver of garlands,* protects his subjects, makes
the enemies tributaries and increases the treasure by their wealth.” Further,
“ the king should receive rent from the peasant in such a way that he be not
destroyed. It is to be realised in the fashion of the weaver of garlands 9 and
not of the merchant who deals in fuel and firewood.”
We have two sets of officers in Sukranili for discharging two kinds of
functions in connexion with vegetables:
(1) The superintendent of parks and forests studies the growth and
development of plants in gardens, parks, forests, &c., and is well up in the kald
that relates to these, and
(2) The superintendent of grains who discovers the good ones by discri¬
minating them from the worthless.
(a) Sulcrdchdtyya on Practical Gardening,
The following are the rules about the planting of trees 4 in gardens or
forests to be observed by the superintendent :
(1) The good plants are to be placed at a distance of 20 cubits from
one another.
(2) The middling plants are to be placed at a distance of 15 cubits from
one another.
(3) There should be a space of 10 cubits between two ordinary plants.
(4) The space should be 5 cubits between two youngest plants.
The following rules relate to the watering of plants :*
(1) In summer the trees are to be watered twice in the morning and in
the evening.
(2) In winter they are to be watered every alternate day (or at mid-day).
(3) In spring they should be watered in the fifth part of the day, in the
afternoon.
(4) In the rainy season the plants do not require any watering.
The following rules are to be observed with regard to the nourishment
of plants:
(1) Stools of goats, sheep and cows, 4 water as well as meat should be
generally used to promote the healthy growth of plants.
(2) In abnormal cases the following recipe is to be tried : u If trees have
their fruits destroyed, the pouring of cold water after being cooked together
1 Sukra II, 846-40.
a Sukra IV, ii, 86-88.
• Sukra IV, ii, 222-28
4 Sukra IV, iv, 01-98. Of. Brihat Samhito, LV, 9.
• Sukra IV, iv, 106-108. Cf. Brihat Samhit&, LV, 16.
• Sukra IV, iv, 94.
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with Kulutha (dolichos biflorus), masa (phaseolus radiatus), mudga, (phaseolus
mungo), yava (hordeum vulgare), and tila (sesamum indicum) would lead to
the growth of flowers and fruits.” 1
(3) A third process consists in the application of water with which fishes
are washed and cleansed.*
(4) The fourth recipe is given below s The powder of the dungs of goats
and sheep, the powder of hordeum vulgare, sesamum indicum, beef 5 as well as
water should be kept together undisturbed for seven nights. The application
of this water conduces very much to the growth of all trees in flowers and
fruits.
As for the sites where particular, plants are to be placed the following are
the rules:
(1) Those trees which bear good flowers should be planted very near
the village.*
(a) A fair garden should be laid out to the left of the dwelling-house. 1
(3) Those trees which bear thorns, e.g. % acacia catechu are known as
Afanyaka and should be planted in forests 8 .
(4) Expansive trees, shrubs and creepers are to be carefully planted in
villages, if domestic, in forests, if wild.’
The knowledge of grafting* is certainly one of the qualifications of the
gardener, as it is known to be one of the sixty-four kalds.
( 6 ) Var&hamihira on Ecology .
A few notions of the Hindus regarding the connexion between plant life
and its environment (both botanical and meteorological) are given below from
Brihat Samhild ,• and are to be taken for what they are worth:
(1) Judging from the growth of the fruits and flowers of trees and plants
we may determine beforehand what articles can be had cheap and in abund¬
ance and what crops will thrive.
1 Sukra IV, iv, 107-108. Cf. Brihat Samhit& LV, 16. In the chapter on Empirical
Recipes from Varflhamihira, relating to Chemical Technology, Dr. Seal remarks: “ It will
be seen that these elaborate recipes are empirical contrivances for supplying the requisite
nitrogen compounds, phosphates and bacteria, these being potentially contained in the
mixtures and infusions prescribed." Vide Ray's Hindu Chemistry , Vol. II. pp. 285 90.
• Sukra IV, iv, 109.
• Sukra it, iv, 110-112. Cf. Brihat SamhitA LV, 17-18.
4 Sukra IV, iv, 108. The plants have been enumerated in a previous section.
• Sukra IV, iv, 104. cf. also Bacon’s Essays.
• Sukra IV, iv, 118-114.
» Sukra IV, iv, 128-124.
• Sukra IV, iii, 144.
0 See chapter XXIX. 1, 14. cf. also 44 If mango tree should thrive well, there will
bo prosperity in the land ; if bhall&ta should thrive, there will be fear; if peelu (Dillenia
spaciosa), there will be health ; if khadira and sami, there will be famine ; if arjuna, there
will be good rain. If kapittha should bear blossoms, there will be storm; if nichula
(Barringtonia acutangula) should bear blossoms, there will be drought ; and if kutaja,
there will be disease.”
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(a) There will be good rain in those countries where trees, shrubs and
creepers grow luxuriantly with glossy leaves uninjured by worms, but if the
leaves should be otherwise there will be little rain.
These two principles sum up what in Varahamihira’s time (6th century
A.D.) constituted the results of scientific observation regarding plants (i) in
relation to other plants and (a) in relation to the atmospherical conditions.
The first has in modern times developed into the science of ecology, and the
second into that aspect of the science of forestry or sylviculture which deals
with the influence of vegetation on temperature, humidity and climate.
The following interesting extracts from Brihat Samhitd would give an
idea of Varahamihira’s economic ecology:
(i) If the s&la tree should bear fruits and flowers, karama (white rice)
will grow in abundance; if the red asoka should bear fruits and flowers, red
paddy will grow; if the ksirika should bear fruits and flowers, white paddy will
grow; and if the black asoka should bear fruits and flowers, black rice will grow.
(a) The growth of the nyagrodha (the banyan tree) indicates the
growth of barley; the growth of tinduka indicates the growth of the sastyaka
i ice ; and the growth of the aswattha indicates the growth of all crops.
(3) The growth of madhuka indicates the growth of wheat, and the
growth of saptaparna indicates the growth of the barley, etc., etc , etc. 1
It would be better to describe this Hindu ecology of the early Christian
era as Astrological Botany. It may be surmised that the forester, superintend¬
ent of parks and the gardener of those days were acquainted with all these
notions about the principles of plant life. These look very much like the sayings
of the celebrated Khan&—the most popular agricultural lore of Bengal.
Likewise, the gardener of old must have been familiar with the follow¬
ing views of the scientist of the court of Bhoja Vikrara&ditya :
(1) The sides of rivers* and lakes and other water-banks will not be
pleasant and agreeable, if devoid of shady trees.
(2) Soft soil is congenial to the growth of all trees. Such a soil should
be selected for the garden, and the sesamum plant should first be grown in it.
(3) Trees that grow without branches shall be grown in the Sisira
season, and in the Hemanta shall be grown trees that grow with branches;
in the winter season shall be grown trees possessing good trunks.
(c) Sukra vs. Varaha .
We may compare and contrast the horticutural ideas of Sukracharyya
with what we may look upon as the practice in the Royal Garden at Ujjayini
in the 6th century. We have the following lines in Brihat Samhitd : (1) “In
1 See Iyer’s Brihat Samhitd pp. 188-140. The accounts of plants that by their growth
or otherwise indicate rise or fall in the supply of metals, gems, livestock, Ac, and
prosperity or adversity of certain classes of men, e.g., princes, ministers, Ac., should also
be noted, cf. also Sen's Bengali Literature for the sayings of Khanfi.
■ Brihat Sarphitd LV., 1, 2-0,
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the dry season 1 the trees shall be watered both in the morning and evening;
in the cold season they shall be watered every alternate day (at mid-day ?);
and in the rainy season whenever the ground is found dry.”
The fact that even in the rainy season plants require watering indicates
the great absence of humidity in the soil of Malwa for which Brihat Samhita
was probably written ; and the fact that the Sukra authors advise no watering
during the rainy season points to an opposite state of things—copious rainfall,
natural moisture in the soil, &c., known to them. We have also to note that
Var&ha mentions only three seasons, whereas in Sukra we have six, though with
regard to watering of plants only four of them are mentioned. It may be
inferred from all this that Sukra’s rules are the results of observation of a more
humid than the Varfiha flora. This would very well suit the topographical
conditions of Eastern India. 1
(2) An interval of 20 cubits* between trees is the best; one of 16 is
passable; and one of 12 is injurious. The trees that are planted very near each
other get their branches interwoven as well as their roots, and such trees get
choked and cannot grow well.
But according to Sukrfichfiryya intervals of 15, 10 and even 5 are allowed.
Here again we may consider the difference to be due to two characteristics of
soil,—one being more fertile or humid is more capable of bearing vegetation
per foot than the other which is drier and more barren. Sukra's rules therefore
are adapted to the topographical features of luxuriant flora, while Varfiha’s to
those of arid vegetation.
The horti-flori-arbori* cultural theories advocated by the authors of the
Sukra cycle are thus 11 relative ” to, and indicative of, the botanical conditions of
a more humid and productive region than Malwa. This is Eastern India.
The Botanical evidences thus all point to the locale of Sukra flora and
Sukra authors being somewhere in Eastern India. Comparing the texts of
Sukranlti and Brihat Samhitfi as regards the watering and planting of trees
we may also presume, unless there be other evidences, that:
(1) the difference in treatment is the conscious work of Eastern authors
or copyists, and
(2) the authors or copyists of Sukranlti, in quoting passages from Brihat
Samhitfi or from floating literature, adapted them to the local conditions of the
Eastern kingdom.
1 Brihat Sarphitfi LV, 9.
2 This would be evident from a comparison of the Sanskrit texts also. Line 105 of IV,
iv, of Sukra is exactly the same as the first half of the Sloka 0 of LV of Brihat Samhitfi. It
is only the second half that differs from each other. It has to be noted again that the lines
in Sukraniti (104-112) are to be found in only one of the six texts on which Mr. Oppert edited
his book ; and that is the text in the possession of Dr. Rfim Dasa Sen of Berhampur (Bengal).
The Eastern copyist or scholar in transferring the passage from Brihat Samhitd to Sukra¬
nlti adapted the idea to the geographical conditions of his own country.
» Brihat Sai$hM LV, 12-18.
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(d) Hindu Phytopathology .
The horticulturist as we have seen, must know the principles of phyto¬
pathology and be competent enough to diagnose the diseases 1 of plants and
find out the enemies of their proper growth. It is also one of his functions
to treat the plants with proper medicines and help forward their natural growth
and development. We have already noticed the four recipes of Sukrdchdryya.
To these we may add the following four from Brihat Samhitd ; two of which
are similar to those we know :
(i) To cure the tree of these diseases, first scrape off or otherwise
remove the parts dead from the tree with a knife ; rub over the parts with a
mixture of vidanga (Erycibe paniculata', ghee and mire, and pour at the roots
water mixed with milk.*
(a) “If the fruits are seen to die out, then heat a mixture of horse gram,
black gram and mudga, sesamum seeds and barley;after the mixture has
fully cooled pour it at the roots. Then the trees will yield increase of
flowers and fruits. M This is exactly one of the recipes of Sukra.* It is to be
noted, however, that this is to be found in only one of the texts on which Mr.
Oppert based his publication of Sukraniti. This text is that in the possession
of Dr. Rfimd&s Sen of Bengal.
(3) •* Get two ddhakas of the excrement of the goat and the ram, an
ddhaka of sesamum seed, half an ddhaka of saktu, an ddhalca of water, and a
1 According to Yar&ha “ cold winds and hot sun produce diseases in trees, and the
trees tarn white and do not pnt forth new leaves ; the branches become dry, and the juice
oozes out.” LY, 14.
“ The existence of blights and mildews of cereals had been observed and recorded in
very ancient times, as witness the Bible, where half a dozen references to such scourges
occur in the Old Testament alone. The epidemic nature of wheat rust was known to
Aristotle about 850 B.C., and the Greeks and Romans knew these epidemics well, their
philosophers having shrewd speculations as to causes, while the people had characteristic
superstitions regarding them. Pliny knew that flies emerge from galls. The few records
during the middle ages are borne out by what is known of famines and pestilences. Cf.
Shakespeare's King Lear , Act HI, Sc. iv." —Encyclopaedia Britannica, Uth Edition, Y 0 I.XXI,
(Pathology of Plants).
The following letter to Major B. I). Basu from late Surgeon-General George Bidie, C.I.E.
testifies to the practical knowledge of Indian cultivators in phy to-pathology even in modern
times : “ The achievement on which I place perhaps most value was the discovery of a
remedy for the coffee bores, which threatened to ruin the coffee industry. The remedy
was a simple one, viz., cultivating the coffee under the shade of other trees which protects
it from the insect. The native practice in their gardens led me on to this discovery in
practical Zoology.” (l»th July, 1894. Perthshire N.B.)
1 Brihat Samhitft LV, 15.
• Ibid LV, 16. Cf. feukra IV, iv, 107 108. The verse is the same in both treatises
except in one or two unimportant words. We may believe rationally that the Bengal
Pandit of old interpolated this verse from Brihat Sanihita and mado it a part of his MSS.
of 8ukraniti.
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tula (100 palas) of cow’s flesh. Form a mixture of these, keep it untouched for
seven days, and if, at the end of the time, spreading creepers, plants and trees
be watered with the jaixture, flowers and fruits will grow in abundance.”
This, again, is another of Sukra’s methods. 1 The languages of the verse in
Sukra and Vardha differ; but, except for the measurements (adhaka, &c.) given
in the latter, the two are substantially the same.
(4) Keep the seeds soaked in milk for 10 days; then rubbing ghee over
the hands the seed shall be taken up in the hands and passed from hand to
hand till it is covered with ghee. It shall then be rubbed over several times
with cowdung and exposed to the smoke of the flesh of the hog and the deer.
It shall then be mixed with the serum or marrow of the flesh of the fish and the
pig, and when dry it shall be sown in a well-prepared soil and watered with a
mixture of milk and water. When it grows, it will grow with flowers.
The similarity between Sukranlti and Brihat Samhita in the two recipes
cannot be interpreted to indicate the priority of the one or the other until other
evidences are available. If the Doctrine of Navagralia and Navaratna utilised
in Sukranlti be the work of the same age that is responsible for the agri-
flori-horti-arbori-cultural section, Sukraniti is certainly subsequent to Brihat
Satfihitd , and the Sukra authors must have quoted and paraphrased the two
recipes from Varaha or drawn upon the floating literature on the subject.
(e) The Luther Burbank of Hindu India.
Brihat Saqihitd is further interesting to us as giving the methods of pro¬
ducing some botanical wonders. Thus we read (1) how the tamarind and other
trees can by proper treatment be made to grow up as creepers, (a) how a plant
can be made to grow up full-fledged, like Minerva born cap-&~pie t with branches
and fruits, (3) how a plant can grow and bear fruits in a day; and so on.
Mr. Chidambram Iyer, translator of Brihat Satfihitd , adds to the section on
Gardening interesting notes derived from a work known as Brihat Sdranga -
dhara . This work describes the horticultural processes by which (1) scentless
flowers may become fragrant, (2) the cotton-plant will yield cotton throughout
the year bright and red as fire, (3) trees will yield flowers at unusual
seasons, (4) fruits will grow without bones, (5) fruits will ever remain unripe,
(6) fruits will stick to the tree for a very long time ; and so on.
The following miracles in horticulture are guaranteed by Brihat
Sdrangadhara . 1
(1) If the root of the plantain tree be drenched with the blood or serum
(of flesh) of the hog or with the decoction of the fruit of the ankola (alangium
hexapetalum), it will bear pomegranate fruits.
1 Here again, ifc is only in the Bengal MSS. that we have this recipe, (of. Sukra IV, iv,
110-112). It Is to be easily surmised that the Eastern copyist or scholar incorporated the
passage of Var&hamihlra with his text of Sukraniti in order to make it more important as a
manual of gardening, Ac. In doing this he, however, does not quote in toto, but paraphrases
the idea in his own language.
* Iyer’s Brihat 8arghitd t Part II, pp. 50-00,
28
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(2) If plantain tree be watered with a liquid mixture consisting of
the flesh, serum, and blood of men and the powdered tooth of elephant and
water, the tree will yield mango fruits.
Mr. Edward Lee Greene 1 bears out such ideas of transmutation existing in
the western world:
“In this 20th century of our era there are farmers in the world, and not
unintelligent, who believe that to some seed of wheat or barley after it has been
sown in the field something may happen by which it comes to sprout and grow
up into a plant of what they call chess or cheat; a plant known to botanists as
Bromus secalitms. * * * The seemingly indicative facts upon which this
transmutation theory appears as if it might have established itself in the minds
of pre-historic grain-growers were several. * * * Theophrastus does not
formally and didactically discuss this question, though he makes a number of
references to this changing of one plant into another as something universally
believed in his day. * * * It was the metamorphosis attending the develop¬
ment of the individual reptile and the insect which helped to elevate to the
dignity of a quasi-rational belief the superstition of the changeability of wheat
into lolium.”
If the complete transformation of orders and genera be absurd, that of
species is not so and has been verified by experiments. With the horticultural
miracles guaranteed by Var&hamihira and Brihat Sftrangadhara of old we
are tempted to compare the epoch-making new creations in plant-life by
Burbank, the American plant-breeder of modern times, 11 which have added to
the wealth of nations and enriched the dietary of the race, and have made
the world more beautiful/’ The wonderful achievements of this great and unique
genius include among other creations the following: the improved thornless
and spineless edible cactus, food for man and beast, to be the reclamation
of the deserts of the world; the primus berry, a union of rasp-berry and black¬
berry, the first recorded instance of the creation of a new species; a tree which
grows more rapidly than any other tree ever known in the temperate zones
of the world; a dahlia with its disagreeable odour driven out and in its place the
odour of the magnolia blossom substituted ; a chestnut tree which bears nuts
in eighteen months from time of seed-planting.
Regarding the creation of new species Mr. Harwood in his authoritative
account of the life and work of Luther Burbank writes: “ Should a dweller
upon some other planet where some other sun kisses its earth into life come
down through space bearing a fruit as yet untasted by the world-men, it would
not be more distinctive or more delicious to the taste, than the fruit which
Mr. Burbank picked one summer day from a tree which he had made from three
other trees . For the fruit which he picked was unlike any other fruit which
had grown on the earth before—it was absolutely new, he had accomplished
1 Landmarks of Botanical History (Smithsonian Institution, U. 8. A. 1906), pp . 185-140.
* See New Creations in Plant-life by Harwood (Macmillan & Oo., 1905).
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that which men had said was impossible. So it lias been said on other
occasions,— such and such things cannot be done. Mr. Burbank says wait;
let us see about it.
11 He took a wild American plum, a Japanese plum, and an apricot. He bred
these three together and made a third, the plumest, different in texture, colour
and taste from any other fruit. * * * Indeed there are now opened in many
lines of plant-life, by this demonstration of the feasibility of creating new
species, possibilities whose scope is limitless.”
It seems well nigh impossible to-day to venture describing with any
precision the exact character of the new forms and improvements in plant-
life that testified to the skill of the practical agriculturists and farmers of
ancient India in breeding and selection.
(/) Botany in Fine Arts .
Sukra authors have not supplied us with much information about these
and other branches of Economic Botany, as Raja Bhoja, the author of Yukti-
kalpataru does. Nor do they refer to the treatment of vegetable motives in art.
Like the metals and animals of the country, the indigenous plants also
have left their permanent impress upon Hindu art. The treatment of vegetables
in sculpture has been thus remarked upon by Dr. Rajendralal in Ivdo-
Aryans: 41 The lotus, as may be expected from the circumstance of its
being the most gorgeous and handsome flower in India, is by far the greatest
favourite, and in Orissa, as elsewhere, occurs everywhere and in various forms—
in bud, in a half-open state, and in full-blown flowers. In some specimens the
attempt to delineate nature is very nearly successful, but a conventional form is
what is generally adopted. * * * The attempt of the Orissan artist to represent
vegetable forms will be readily acknowledged to have been much more success¬
ful than that of Egyptian and Assyrian sculptors. * * * The Uriya artists
depended very largely on the beauty of their vegetable forms for the success
of their works, and introduced them as primary, and not as accessory, orna¬
ments in their architecture much more extensively than any other nation of
antiquity.”
Among the simplest objects of nature pressed into the artists* service in
the Ajanta Paintings of the 5th-7th cent. A.D., Mr, Griffiths 1 mentions the 44 large
pink lotus, full-bloom, half-bloom, and in bud, as well as the smaller red and
white; the mango ( Mangi/era indica\ custard-apple ( Anona squamosa ), a round
fruit which may be called the bel (Marmelos aegle) or the lime (Citrus medica);
another that looks like the brinjal (Solatium melongina).
The following remarks regarding vegetable life in Hindu art are taken from
Vincent Smith’s History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon :• ,4 The use of a
long undulating stem, band, garland or roll to break up a long frieze into sec¬
tions was familiar to Indian sculptors from early days. As seen on Bharhut
1 Quoted by Smith in Hist, of Fine Art , p. 280.
»Ibid, pp. 384,888, 388.
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Coping, the device used is a lotus stem with jack fruits attached. * * * The
introduction of the vine into Indian bas-reliefs used to be considered as in itself
evidence of copying from Hellenistic models. But that view is not tenable.
Sir George Watt believes that the plant is indigenous on the Lower Himalayan
ranges, and is even inclined to think that its cultivation may have been diffused
into Europe from that region. * * * The Indian aptitude for artistic repre¬
sentation of plant-life certainly was not learned from the Greeks, who could
not teach the lesson. Sir George Watt points out to me that the pinnate foliage
motives are distinctively Indian.”
Mr. Grunwedel 1 in his Buddhist Art in India bears the following testi¬
mony to the successful treatment of foliage by the Hindu craftsmen : ** The
Indian plant-world, notwithstanding simple and sometimes even rough modelling,
is reproduced with astonishing fidelity to nature. * * * The Hindu sculptor does
not care for purely geometrical designs, and so we find frequently creepers with
aquatic birds, &c., which, on a smaller scale, fill in the spaces, and are rich and
animated with fine observation of nature. * * * Birds flit about among the
flowers; and the plant itself grows from the jaws of a sea-monster. * * *
In the main, it may be said that these plants, represented in simple lines,
with the native animals that animate them —both of which have received purely
native modelling— mostly surpass what the celebrated Greek art was able to
command : They rest upon a faithful observation of nature.”
Section 6.
Agriculture .
(a) Agricultural Occupation, Population, and Tenure
The means of livelihood 1 enumerated in Sukraniti are : (i) learned profes-
sions—art of teaching, etc. (2) service, (3) heroism (soldier’s art), (4) agriculture,
(5) usury, (6) commerce—shop-keeping, (7) industries and arts, (8) begging.
Agriculture is one of the four subjects dealt with in the science of Vdrtfr.
“ In Varta are treated (1) interest, (2) agriculture, (3) commerce, and (4) preser¬
vation of cows. The man who is well up in Varta need not be anxious for
earnings.” About the occupation of agriculture Sukracharyya’s general idea
is (1) that it is superior* to that of the Vaisyas, commerce, and menial
service of the Sfidras; and (2) that it is too important to be left to a proxy. 4
Even Brahmans* can take to agriculture according to Manu, says
Sukracharyya.
Among the 64 kalds we have only one connected with agriculture, via ,
that of drawing the plough.® It would thus appear that agriculture was not
1 English Edition (Bernard Qaariteh, London, 1901), pp. 19-20.
* Snkra I, 811-12. The two sciences Varta and Dandaniti together constitate
Arthasdstva (a variety of Nitisftstra).
* Snkra III, 562-64.
4 Snkra III, 588-84.
• Snkra III, 864*67.
• Snkra IV, iii, 87.
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probably regarded as a kald. Besides, it maybe remarked that the country
of Sukrdchdryya was not purely an agricultural one, but industrial as well.
In agriculture-as in shop, keeping and other occupations, women are to be
assistants of males.
Agriculture is also one of the occupations which should be patronised 1
by the state.
The equitable law of Sukra statesmen exempts agriculturists in the
harvest seasons from liability to give evidence.* Another law with regard to
the peasant class is that, like the artists, ascetics, &c„ the cultivators should
have their disputes decided “according to the usages of their guild,” 5 because
“ it is impossible to detect them through others’ help.” The truth and evidences
are to be found out with the help of persons born of (».*., connected with) them.
Sukra legislators have mentioned a third law relating to the peasants. This
is about joint-stock enterprise which “ applies equally to commerce and agri¬
culture.’** The law is stated below :
“ Those who deal in gold, grains and liquids (collectively) will have
earnings according to the amount of their share, greater, equal or less.” We
noticed this law in connexion with metals in a previous section.
It is to be noted that all these secular laws apply to the Mlechchhas* also,
though they may follow “other masters” in religious beliefs and practices.
About agricultural tools and implements Sukranlti is not a good source of
information. We have noticed the plough already. About agricultural live¬
stock we have the following rule : T
Brahman as should have 16 cows to their ploughs.
Efatriyas ,, » 12 », »» »»
Vaisyas „ „ 8 „ „ »,
Sudras „ » 4 ,, ,, „
Antyajas „ „ 2 „ „ „
There are various kinds of soils with varying degrees of fertility and
access to market. The Sukra financiers recognise the consequent variation in
Agricultural Returns and have apportioned the Land Revenue in an equitable
manner. The following land-laws are what we get about rents, revenues,
tenures, &c., affecting the agricultural population of the country :
(i) The king should receive rent* from the peasant in such a way that
he be not destroyed. It is to be realised in the fashion of the weaver of the
garland who, in plucking flowers from plants, takes care that the stock be not
exhausted, and not of the charcoal or fuel merchant who destroys the wood
altogether.
1 Bukra IV, iv, 54. 4 Sukra IV, v, 618.
* Sukra IV, iv, 85-87. * Sukra IV, v, 614-17.
»Sukra IV, v, 206-207. ’ >ukra IV, v, 585-87 ; IV, v, 74-77.
4 Sukra IV, v, 85-87. 8 Sukra IV, iii, 88-89.
* Sukra IV, ii, 222-28. See also Sukra I, 418-19, where the systems of land-measure¬
ment according to Manu and Praj&pati are compared. Of. again Sukra II, 845-846.
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(2) That agriculture 1 is successful which yields a profit twice the
expenditure (including Government demand) after duly considering variations
in actual produce.
(3) The king should realise * (a) one-third from places irrigated by tanks,
canals and wells, (£) one-fourth from places irrigated by rains, (c) one-half from
riparian soils, and ( d) one-sixth from barren and rocky soils.
(4) If people 3 cultivate new lands and dig tanks, canals, wells, &c., for
their good, the king should not demand anything of them till they have
realised profit twice the expenditure.
(5) Income of the State from Land or Land Revenue is called Pdrthiva 4
Income (terrestrial). This is various according to the sources, e.g 9 natural
waters, artificial waters, villages, cities, &c.
(6) The king should give to each cultivator the deed of rent* having his
own mark or seal.
(7) The apportionment and realisation® of land-revenue are to be managed
in the following way:
(a) Having determined the land-revenue of the village the king should
receive it from one rich man in advance, or accept a guarantee for the payment
of that in monthly or periodical instalments ;
(b) Or the king should appoint officers, called gramapas, by paying one-
sixteenth, one-twelfth, one-eighth of his own receipts.
(8) If necessary, the king should set apart lands and build houses for
peasants.’
(9) It is one of the functions of the Sumantra * or Finance Minister to
study the amounts of land, in cultivation, and out of cultivation, to know the
realisers of rent and the amount realised, &c.
(A) The Crops .
In the preceding sketch we have given all that can be gleaned from
Suhraniti about cultivation, irrigation, out-turns, Government demand and the
agricultural class. We shall now proceed to notice the various plants that
have been mentioned by the Sukra authors in the course of their work as
distinguished from the fruit-bearing and thorny trees enumerated together, as
well as their domestic, industrial or artistic uses which have been recorded in
the treatise.
Grains are important like the noble metals, precious stones, &c., and should
be hoarded in the treasury. It is one of the duties of the king to study the
amounts with the chief of granaries for four 9 muhurtas before meals. These
are important belongings of the state and require a department or an officer all
A gokra IV> [{ 224-26 ‘Sukra I, 428-424.
• Sukra IV, ii, 1*7-30. • Sukra IV, ii, 147.
• Sukra IV. II, 141-44. T Sukra IV, ii, 148-62.
4 Sukra II, 008-70. • Sukra II, 207-10.
* Sukra I, 601-02. 1 Muhurta=48 minutes.
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to themselves. He is called dhdnyddhipa.' His function is to know* of the
species, measurements, values, essential characteristics of the grains, as well
as the methods of consuming, collecting and cleansing them. It is to be noted
that winnowing of grains is a hold or an art, and those who practise it should
be maintained by the state. 8
The following are the rules 4 for the collection and accumulation of grains
and provisions:
(1) They should be sufficient to meet the wants of three j'ears, or more.
(2) Only those grains are to be stored up which are well-developed,
bright, best of the species, dry, new, or have good colour, smell and taste, the
famous ones, durable and dear.
(3) Those grains which have been attacked by poisons, fire or snows
(hima) or eaten by worms and insects or those that have been sucked hollow
should be used for immediate consumption and not laid by for future use.
(4) Every year there should be new instalments to replace those that
have been consumed.
It is evident that the superintendent of the granary is to have such
qualifications as will enable him to help the king in discriminating the good ones
from the worthless. Like the superintendents of metals and gems who are to be
well up in Economic Mineralogy, the officers of the granaries are to be proficient
in those branches of Economic Botany which deal with the food-grains, cereals,
domestic crops, &c., especially with regard to their life-history, diseases,
enemies, &c.
It is to be understood that the grains are stored up not only for ordinary
uses in the royal household, but also for the commissariat in times of war.
11 The king should have forts* well-provided with war materials, as well as
grains, &c.” We have already noticed the importance Sukr&ch&ryya attaches to
grains in warfare .* “From the manoeuvre of &sana or besieging, the king
should destroy carefully those people who help the enemy by carrying wood,
water and provisions ; and subjugate the enemy through protracted processes
by which provisions are cut short, food and fuel are diminished and the subjects
are oppressed.” We read also : “ The powerful should coerce 1 * * 4 the enemy by
stopping the supplies of water, provisions, fodder, grass, &c., in an unfavourable
region and then extirpate it.”
Besides these references to grains in connexion with the state treasury,
royal household, and military operations, there are others which relate to
economic interests of people. Thus we have the ruling about joint stock
enterprise* in grains, as in metals, &c. Again, like the man who counterfeits
coins, the man who destroys grains is said to commit an offence that is called
1 Sukra II, 289.
* Sukra II, 813-14.
• Sukra II, 408-9.
4 8ukra IV, ii, 50-69.
• Sukra IV, vi, 28-24.
• Sukra IV, vii, 570-78.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 740-41.
• Sukra IV, v, 014-18.
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Rdjajneya or cognisable by the state as against itself, even without any plaintiff.
This is.one of the 22 cases 1 enumerated by Sukrflchftryya as coming under
crown vs. defendants .
1. The Ceteals .
(a) Vrihi.
Vrihi {oryea sativa)* is used in rubbing the oyster-pearl soaked in hot
saline water during a whole night in order to test if it is genuine or one of the
artificial commodities, eg. t those manufactured by the people of Ceylon. Rice*
is one of the ingredients used in determining the guilt of an offender by Divya
sddhana , or divine test. The man has to chew without anxiety or fear one karsa
amount of rice. The rice-ordeal would declare a man guilty who in chewing the
rice experiences difficulties, through palpitation of heart or want of salivation.
This ordeal is to be applied in a case involving theft of Rs. 125.* There is a law
also that the king should not receive milk of cows, &c., for his kith and kin,
nor paddy* and clothes from buyers for his own enjoyment.
( b ) Godhuma .
Wheat (Triticum dulgare) has been mentioned only once. The iron-sheet
of which the kavacha or armour has to be made should have the thickness of a
grain of wheat.* “ This cereal 1 is essentially a crop of the warmer and
drier parts of the temperate zone; but its limits of growth are wide, its varieties
being adapted to nearly all climates. In India it is always grown in the cold
weather, most extensively in the north and hardly at all in the south/*
Tn Prof. Guha’s Bengali translation of Greek Fragments of Megasthenes we read of
Strabo quoting from Eratosthenes to enumerate some of the cereals and pulses of India
sown in the rainy season and winter, and remark that wheat, barley and other crops are
unknown to the Greeks (Strabo, XV. i, 18.)
Mr. Schoff thinks (p. 76) that wheat was introduced into India from Bgypt. But
according to Mr. Jayaswal, the evidence of language is against this view. It came from
Persia, or from Mesopotamia (one of its wild homes) through Persia. Its name in India
(Oodhuma) is identical with that in Persia ( Oandum ). Wheat does not figure in Hindu
ceremonials, where barley flour and grains are employed. The former is certainly a late
introduction.
Mr. Schoffs view was started by Candolle in his “ Origin of Cultivated Plants." The
section on Habitat and History of wheat in Watt’s Dictionary of Economic Products, Vol. VI,
Part IV (p. 90-91), summarises Candolle’s remarks. The Editor’s remarks are also very
valuable : “ There is* thus very nearly as strong presumptive evidence in favour of India
being the home of some of the forms of wheat as can be shown for any other part of the
globe. * * * India possesses perhaps as comprehensive a series of time-honoured
forms of wheat as can be shown for any other country. Most of these have been grown
for countless ages on very nearly the same fields as they are to be found at the present
day/* ____
1 Sukra IV, v, 165-166 * Sukra IV, v, 470-71,488.
* Sukra IV, il, 126-128. 4 Sukra IV, v, 487-90.
* Sukra IV, ii, 258-54. The reader is requested to read the translation of these lines
as given here on p. 149 of Vol. XIII of the Sacred Books of the Hindus Series.
• Sukra IV, vii, 482-88.
1 Indian Empire in the Imperial Gazetteer of India. Vol. III. p. 29,
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{c) Yava.
Yava or barley ( Hordeutn vulgare) is the third cereal mentioned in
Sukrantti . It constitutes one of the best articles 1 of horses* food. It is also
one of the substances which are to be cooked with water for application to
trees whose fruits wither up through disease.* The powder oi yava should be
kept together with other grains and beef as well as water for seven nights.
The application of this water also conduces to the growth of trees in flowers
and fruits. 8
(d) Pulses .
The pulses have been mentioned by the Sukra authors in connexion with
the food of horses. Thus we read that barley and chanaka * (gram or Cicer
arietinum) constitute the best food for horses ; ma$a (black gram or Phaseolus
radiatus) and makuqtha ( Phaseolus acontifolius or kidney bean) constitute
second class food ; and tnasura (lentil or Lens esculenta) and mudga (green
gram or Phaseolus mungo) are inferior stuff.
Besides these five pulses, we have harimantha • (peas or Pisum sativum)
in the following line. : 4< The horse should be given harimanthas f md$as and
makusthas , both dry and wet, as well as cooked meat.”
The seventh pulse mentioned in Sukraniti is kulutha * (horse gram or
Dolichos biflorus). Like barley, it is one of the substances used in the prepara¬
tion of the mapure that operates against the tendency of trees to have their
fruits withered up, and promotes the growth of healthy flowers and fruits. The
other pulses which may also be thus used are Phaseolus radiatus and Phaseolus
mungo .
(e) No Saktu.
Saktu has been mentioned also as a food for horses.’ '* The horse should,
after work, be fed upon sugar and Saktu mixed with water.” Also, ** the
horse should be made to take milk, ghee, water and saktu” This Saktu is
powdered preparation of Cicer arietinum and other pulses or hordeum.
vulgare, &c.
One other pulse has been referred to. That is ni$pdpa (,Dolichos lablab).
The two nostrils of an image are to be beautiful like the ni$pdpa % legume.
(/) OiLseeds.
White mustard seeds* have been mentioned as representing one of the
many shapes of feather-rings which are auspicious marks of horses.
One of the 64 kalds is the extraction of oil from seeds. 10 We are not told
which seeds. The use of oil for the body is referred tp in the following : “The
man who appears before the king in the act of rubbing oil 11 commits the'offence
called chhala .
• Sukra IV, vii, 285.
* Sukra IV, iv, 107-108.
» Sukra IV, iv, 110-112.
4 Sukra IV, vii, 285-88.
‘ Sukra IV, vii, 272-71.
24
w Sukra IV, v, 155-158.
• Sukra IV, iv, 107.
• Sukra IV, vii, 270-71, 282.
• Sukra IV, iv, 224.
• Sukra IV, vii, 159-181.
w Sukra IV, iii, 187.
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(?) TUa
Tila 1 (Sesamum indict*m) is, like the cereal yava and the pulses, phaseolus
radiatus, and phaseolus mungo, and dolichos biflorus, an ingredient to be
used for the preparation that conduces to the growth of trees in flowers
and fruits. It may be used in two ways either (i) by being cooked or (2) by
being powdered and mixed with beef, cold water, &c., and kept undisturbed for
seven days and nights. The flower of the plant is very straight; and the nose
of images* is to be like it, if straight, or like the bill of birds, if curved.
The following interesting note is taken from Birdwood’s Handbook to the
Indian 8 Court at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878: ‘'The phrase Open
Sesame is from the Indian oil seed, ///, or sesamum indicum t the cultivation of
which was carried in the earliest ages into Mesopotamia and Egypt, where it
became known under the name of Semsen ; and 1 open Sesame ! * is equivalent to
•Bring in the candles, 91 Light the gas’; bring light, which opens everything, which
neither wheat nor barley could give Cassim, but only the oil seed Sesamum."
Mustard (Brassica campestris) has been referred to as the specimen of
very small substances. “ To the good man even a very insignificant benefit
rendered appears very high, while the wicked man considers a service even less
in amount than a mustard seed to be huge/’ 4
it. Other Plants.
(a) Sugarcanes .
Sugarcanes* (Saccharum officinarum) are the plants which give rise to
one of the sixty-four kalds . The following is taken from Birdwood’s Paris
Exhibition* (1878): " Sugar was introduced into Europe by the Saracens and
through the Crusades. * * * All the European names for Sugar are derived
from Sanskrit Sharkara % through the Arabic Shakar % the Hindu name of
sugar. * * * Undoubtedly sugar was made from time immemorial in
India. * * Nearchus quoted by Strabo (XV. 1, 20) says that in India 'reeds
yieid honey, although there are no bees/
(b) Bamboos .
Bamboos 1 (Dendrocalamus strictus) also give rise to a kald— the prepa¬
ration of vessels with leaves and straws of the plant. Bamboos are known
to be one of the sources of pearls.* It is also stated that the king should
win over the forest tribes to his side, and be like bamboos* surrounded by
clusters of thick thorny trees.
(c) Tula or Cotton .
Cotton (1 Gossypium herbaceum) has been referred to twice to serve the
purpose of analogies for light insignificant substances. “ The untrained,
inefficient and raw recruits are like hales of cotton. 10 The wise should appoint
them to other tasks besides warfare." Again, " The king cannot be restrained
by the councillors, for they are his servants, just as the elephant cannot be
bound by thousands of bales of cotton/’ 11
1 Sukra IV, iv, 107-108,110-112. » P. 24. ~
* Sukra IV, iv, 228. 4 Siikra III, 010-20.
See pp. 81-88, for the interesting history of sugar in both fiast and West.
• Sukra IV, iii, 146. ■ Sukra IV, vii, 482-86.
1 Sukra IV, iii, 100. ,0 8ukra IV, vii, 866-867.
• Sukra IV, ii, 117-18. i' Sukra IV, vii, 882-888.
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Mr. Schoflf in his newly published edition of the Periplus (Pp. 71-76)
adds the following note :
“ Sansrkit, k&rp&sa; Hebrew, carpas; Greek, karpasos ; Latin, carbasus—the secd-
flSres of Gossypium herbaceum and G. arboreum (order, Malvacese) native in India, and
woven into cloth by the natives of that country before the dawn of history. The facts
concerning it have been admirably stated by Mr. R. B. Handy in The Cotton Plant , a
report of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, issued in 1896. Cotton thread and cloth
are repeatedly mentioned in the laws of Mann, 800 B.C. Professor A. H. Sayce in his
Hibbert Lectures shows ground for the belief that it was exported by sea to the head of
the Persian Gulf in the 4th Millennium B.C.; and it found its way very early to Egypt.
Herodotus describes it as a wool, better than that of sheep, the fruit of trees growing
wild in India.
“ The manufacture of cotton cloth was at its best in India until very recent times,
and the fine Indian muslins were in great demand and commanded high prices, both in
the Roman Empire and in Mediseval Europe. The industry was one of the main factors
in the wealth of ancient India, and the transfer of that industry to England and the United
States, and the cheapening of the process by mechanical ginning, spinning and weaving,
is perhaps the greatest single factor in the economic history of our own time.”
In Prof. Rajanikanta Guha’s Bengali translation of the original Greek
Fragments of Megasthenes we read of Eratosthenes referring to wool yielded by
a kind of tree. Prof. Guha also mentions Herodotus as having noted this
fact, and remarks that this undoubtedly points to kfirpasa or cotton plant.
Prof. Mookerji quotes from the eighth volume of Nihon-ko-ki and 199th
Chapter of Ruijukokushi , two Japanese State records, to prove that about
799-800 A.D., “Cotton was introduced into Japan through the Indians who
were unfortunately carried over to that country by the black current.” Indian
Shipping , p. 174. /jv , a
(d) A rka.
Besides cotton, another fibre-plant has been noticed. This is arka
(1 Calotropis gigantea ), but its use in Sukraniti is for a quite different purpose.
The Calotropis gigantea, the Euphorbia neriifolia, Allium sativum, Indigo-
fera tinctoria, and Pinus longifolia have been mentioned as plants useful in the
manufacture of gunpowder, * as supplying both charcoal and juice. have
already described the recipes in the section on minerals.
(e) Indigo .
The antiquity of Indian Indigo can be inferred from the following lines in
the History of Indian Shipping (p. 91): “ Further, according to Wilkinson, the
presence of indigo, tamarind wood, &c., has been detected in the tombs of Egypt,
and Lassel has also pointed out that the Egyptians dyed cloth with indigo.’*
(/) Betel.
Among narcotic plants we have betel ( Piper betle) and gdnfd ( Cannabis
saliva). The preparation and preservation of betels constitute one of the
sixty-four kalds , 8 Men skilled in the preparation of betels 4 have been men¬
tioned among the artists and artisans who should be encouraged by the king.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 400-415.
* Sukra IV, iii, 198.
• Sukra II, 410-11.
4 See Bird wood’s Paris Universal Exhibition , p. 23.
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( 188 )
One of the chhalas or offences against social etiquette is known to be the
act of taking or chewing betel, 1 before being presented with it by others.
Betel-leaf has ever been an important item in the socio-economic life of
South India. We have seen the trade in betel mentioned by Periplus. An
inscription* bearing on mediaeval Chola life (800-1100) records 1 “ The great
men elected for the supervision of the tanks shall be entitled to levy a fine of
one Kalanju of gold in favour of the tank-fund, from those betel-leaf sellers
in this village, who sell betel-leaf elsewhere but at the temple of Pidari.’*
(g) Gdnjd.
The gdnjd house has been mentioned as a generic term for taverns and
resorts of people who take to spirituous liquors, intoxicants, narcotic drugs,
&c. ** The king should build the gdnjd house 5 outside the village and there
keep the drunkards, and should never allow drinking of liquor in his kingdom
in the day time.'*
No intoxicant plant has been referred to in the Sukrantti as such, but
we have noticed in a previous section that Cocos nucifera, Phoenix sylvestris,
&c„ are such liquor-yielding plants. Tobacco (Nicotians tabacum), Poppy
(Papaper somniferum), &c., have not been mentioned.
(/r) Lotus.
Lotus or Nelumbiutn speciosum is the plant whose flowers are the favourite
resorts of bees. u The bee that has the power of cutting holes and can fly with
wings, gets, however, caught within a lotus, 4 because of its desire for smell.”
Lotuses, 4 when newly blossomed, are favourites of the moon also. Lotus is one
of the things in the hands of Viqnu. 11 The sdttvoika form of Visgu’s image
is to have hands indicating blessings and courage, and possessing conch and
lotus.*' 6 The lotus is sacred also to the gods, Sun and Gagesa.
(0 Citron.
Matulunguka or citron (Citrus medico) is the plant which, like lotus, is
sacred to the gods/ A fruit of this plant is to be placed in one of the four
hands of Laksmi.*
(j) Rati (Abrus precatorius).
Kfumd* and rati are seeds important in measurement of metals, precious
stones, &c. The standards of weights and measurements will be treated of at
length in a subsequent chapter.
1 Sukra TV, v, 158-164.
* Aiyangar’s Ancient India p. 161.
• Sukra IV, iv, 89-90.
♦Sukra 1,211-212.
* Sukra I, 828-824.
• Sukra IV, iv, 296, 801-802, 275-278, 298-99.
»Sukra IV, iv, 275-278.
Sukra IV, iv, 800.
•Sukra IV, ii, 180-1 4
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Section 7.
Botany as Science .
Elementary notions of Theoretical Botany are to be met with here and
there. Thus we are taught that 41 inferiority and superiority 1 depend some¬
times on the qualities of the seed, sometimes on the character of the field.
But excellence is due to both.” This is all that we have of abstract Ecology.
According to size and shape we have the following classes of plants,
besides trees:
(1) Latdh ,* which do not flourish without resting grounds.
(a) Stambinyah' or bushes.
(3) Gulminyah*
The trees are(i) thorny and (a) fruit-bearing;* or (1) wild and (a) domestic.
This is the sole Dendrology of the Sukra authors.
All the seven parts of a plant are known and have been mentioned in the
right scientific order, e. g. t root, stem, branches, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds.
Thus 11 the king is the root of the state, the councillors are the stems or trunks,
the commanders are the branches. The troops are the leaves and flowers 5
the subjects are fruits, and the lands are seeds.” Of course the fanciful
analogy between the vegetable organism and the political organism is to be
taken for what it is worth. It has its parallel in the fictitious analogies
drawn between the body politic and other organisms by mediaeval political
thinkers of Europe.
The importance of the root in the life-scheme of the plant is thus indi¬
cated : u Just as the branches of a tree wither up when its roots* decay, so also
without the king, the commanders, &c„ grow powerless immediately or in
course of some time.”
Sukra statesmen know of only one form of political organism—the
monarchical. And therefore the loss or absence of the king means a decay,
if not complete revolution, of the kingdom.
The root has occupied an important place in the history of Botany in
the west also.
“Throughout the whole period of Greek antiquity 1 there was a class of
men who followed as a regular business the gathering, preparing and selling
of roots and herbs that were of repute in medicine. * * * It was the example
of the rhizotomists, in their books of plant-description extant in the times of
Aristotle and Theophrastus, that impelled Theophrastus and others after him
to give the form, texture, colour, odour, flavour, as well as the active properties,
when these were known, of the roots or underground part of almost every
1 Sukra IV, iv, 78-70
•Sukra I, 767.
•Sukra IV, iv, 128.
4 Sukra IV, iv, 128.
‘ Sukra IV, iv, 91-98.
• Sukra V, 24-26.
’ Sukra V, 22-8.
• Greene’s Landmark 1 of Botanical Bistory t pp, 48-61,
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plant. * * From Dioscorides and Pliny down through the middle ages and
out to near the end of the seventeenth century authors in general described
and figured the roots of every weed and grass and bush and tree. * * * It was
Valerius Cordus, the greatest if not the only botanical genius of the first half
of the i6th century, who first gave expression to the opinion, that, from the
morphologic and phytographic point of view, the importance of the root had
always been over-estimated. He set the example for a reform of descriptive
botany in this particular; but, as usual with men of genius, he was a century
in advance of the ideas of the multitude.”
Section 8.
A Preliminary Survey of Hindu Botany .
i. Lines of inquiry .
The data of ancient Indian Botany from the Nitis&stra of Sukrhcharyya
have supplied us with information regarding the knowledge of the Hindus in
several branches of Economic, Utilitarian or Applied Botany, e.g . 9 Sylviculture,
Horticulture and Agriculture. The authors of the Sukra cycle have mentioned
also the botanical Raids or vegetable arts and industries auxiliary to Ayurveda,
the Science of Medicine, but have not otherwise devoted much attention to
the Medical branch of Economic Botany. We have noted likewise that for
Theoretical Botany or Botany as an abstract science, Sukranlti furnishes very
few materials and has thrown out only vague hints here and there. This is
inevitable, since the subject of plants and plant-life touches the province of
Nitis&stras solely from the utilitarian stand-point.
If we take “the most extended use of the term, all information about the
plant-world or any part of it is Botany. 1 According to this view, all treatises
upon agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, forestry, pharmacy, in so far as they
deal with plants and their products, are botanical.” All earlier historians*
of Botany in Europe have proceeded to their work on the theory “ that for the
earliest intimations of anything looking in the direction of the science of botany
we must have recourse to those oldest pieces of literature in which plants are
more or less freely mentioned. Adanson, for example, does not begin botanical
history without naming Orpheus, Musa, Solomon, Hesiod, Homer, Metrodorus,
and Hippocrates, who as poets or physicians wrote of plants. Sprengel has
among his initial chapters one bearing the title 1 flora Biblica,’ another 1 flora
Homerica,' another 1 flora Hippocratica.’ ”
The historian of Hindu Botany may, therefore, safely look upon Vedic
Literature, Charaka Samhita, the Astadhyayi of Panini, the Ramayanam, the
Mahabharatam, the Jatakas, the Puranas, the Tantras, the scientific works of
the schools of grammar, astronomy, medicine, and lexicon, the poetical works
of Bhasa, Kalidasa and others, the Nitisastras, and other treatises of Sanskrit
i Landmarks of Botanical Histort j, Part I. By Edward Lee Greene (Published by the
Smithsonian Institution, U. S. A. 1909) Preface p. 7.
* Ibid. Chapter I. p. 20.
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literature as important landmarks in the history of knowledge regarding
plants, and give to some of his chapters such titles as * flora Vedic,* ‘flora
Charakensis ’ ‘ flora Malwica,* ‘flora Sukrensis,’ and soon
Botany, as a science , however, must rigidly demarcate itself from such
utilitarian or poetic treatment of plants, but occupy itself with the “contempla¬
tion 1 of plant as related to plant and with the whole vegetable kingdom as
viewed philosophically in its relation to the mineral on the one hand, and to the
animal on the other/* Such purely botanical studies i.e. t abstract researches
regarding plants as plants rather than as things useful or deleterious to man and
beast, are pre-eminently modern. This would be evident from the following
extracts from the articles bearing on the history and evolution of the science in
Encyclopaedia Britannka :*
“Little, however, was done in the science of Botany, properly so called,
until the 16th century of the Christian era, when the revival of learning
dispelled the darkness which had long hung over Europe. * * * The descrip¬
tions in these early speculations were encumbered with much medicinal
detail, including speculations as to the virtues of plants. Plants which were
strikingly alike were placed together, but there was at first little attempt at
systematic classification. * * * The foundation of botanic gardens during the
16th and 17th centuries did much in the way of advancing botany. They were
at first appropriated to the cultivation of medicinal plants. This was specially
the case at the Universities where medical schools existed. * * * Robert
Brown (1773-1858) was the first British botanist to support and advocate the
natural system of classification. * * * The study of plant anatomy was begun
in the middle of the 17th century as a direct result of the construction of
microscopes. * * * The subject was practically dormant for nearly a century
and a half: it was revived by several German workers * • * at the beginning
of the 19th century. * * * The pioneer of modern plant anatomy was Hugo
von Mohl (1840). * * * In its systematised form, as a branch of botanical study,
Phytopathology is of recent date; and, as now understood, the stibject first
received special attention about 1850, when the nature of parasitism began
to be intelligible. 8
“One of the earliest workers at Plant Physiology 4 was Hales (1727). * * *
The birth of Modern Chemistry in the work of Priestley and Lavoisier, at the
close of the 18th century, made possible the scientific study of Plant-nutrition
* * * The department of geographical Botany made rapid advance by means
of various scientific expeditions which have been sent to all quarters of the
globe, as well as by individual effort since the time of Humboldt.’*
The above extracts regarding Systematic, Physiological, Geographical
1 Ibid. Preface, p. 7.
* 11th Edition Vol. 4, p. 299.
• Vol. XXI, pp. 748-5, 754.
4 Vol. IV, p. 202.
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and Anatomical branches of Botany, 1 considered as an abstract science, show
the essentially modern character of this division of human learning. Botany,
as we have it to-day, is in reality only as old as the second decade of the last
century. In comparing botanical ideas of the Hindus with those of the western
peoples we cannot, therefore, too carefully remember the fact that these are
embodied in Sanskrit treatises which are mostly several centuries older than
even the crude beginnings of European scientific thought due to the Renaissance
of the 16th century.
Whatever be the value of Hindu botanical theories, they are well worth
the attention of the historian of botanical science for a proper estimate of the
mile-stones in the culture-history of mankind. The data of botany as science
from Hindu literature would thus supply some of the missing links in the
concatenation of diverse facts and ideas that go to' make up the complex web
of human civilisation.
We have noticed above that in Europe botany began and grew as the
handmaid of, and in subordination to, the science of medicine. The story
is repeated in India also. The botanical literature of the Hindus is mainly
pharmacopica), and essentially utilitarian or economic, at times poetical,
scarcely scientific. And yet it is possible to glean from the vast mass of litera¬
ture on industrial or applied botany and horticultural recipes the really scientific
conceptions of the Hindus regarding (i) Vegetative organography, (2) Antho¬
logy, (3) Fruit and seed, (4) Anatomy, (5) Phytography, (6) Taxonomy, (7)
Nomenclature, (8) Ecology, and (9) Dendrology.
Thus, according to Greene, “ there are certain rudiments of a science of
botany in those ancient pieces of literature, the real substance of which those
authors of botanical commentary on the Bible, on Homer, on Virgil, and the
classics generally, have completely overlooked, Let me repeat it that in several
pieces of very old literature there are legible traces of a science of botany.’ 5 *
For, consciously or unconsciously, scientific botany must be as old as human
history, and as extensive as the races of men. The records of antiquity*
as well as of the most untaught people of modern times afford abundant proof
of the existence of organology of plants, systematic botany &c.
By laborious researches into the botanical literature of antiquity, Mr.
Greene has traced the evolution of Scientific Botany through the usages and
rites of the rhizotomi or root-gatherers to the Historia Plantarum of Theo¬
phrastus (B. C. 370-286) whom he holds up as the 11 maker of the first landmark
in the history of Botany,” and ** the discoverer and first promulgator of the
elements of universal botany.”
1 See also the English Edition of History of Botany (1530-1800) by Prof. Sachs of
Wurzburg (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1890). Book I. History of Morphology and Glassifica¬
tion, pp. 8-18 ; Book II. History of Vegetable Anatomy pp. 219-229 ; and Book III. History
of Vegetable physiology, pp. 859-70. Greene’s Landmarks (Part I) is a study of certain
epochs in the Development of the Science of Botany prior to 1562.
* Landmarks , pp. 20-21.
• See Greene’s Landmarks , pp. 21-43 for evidences.
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It may be possible, by following the self-same method in the investigation
of the botanical documents of Indian literature, to bring out the contributions
of the ancient Hindus to the universal scientific botany of to-day. And
probably Greene’s remark 1 about Theophrastus may have to be applied with
equal Cogency to charaka and other founders of the schools of medicine in the
Pre-Buddhistic and Buddhistic ages of Indian history (6th cent. B. C.)
“To me it seems not improbable that historians of the future, learning
to know this great founder’s mind better than is yet known, may agree in
some judgment not unlike this: that all that has been added to the under¬
standing of Plant life and form—to morphology, anatomy, physiology, perhaps
even to taxonomy—within the last three centuries—has been due to the
inventions of the opticians, and to the increased number of students and
investigators, rather than to the appearing on the botanical horizon, within
the hoodern period, of any one mind in powers of observation, penetration,
and sagacity superior to Theophrastus of Eresus.”
2. The so-called “ Indian Botany ” of to-day.
To do for ancient Hindu sages what Mr. Greene has done for Theo¬
phrastus would require (i) a knowledge of the fundamental principles of
modern scientific Botany, and (2) a thorough familiarity with the several
branches and landmarks of Indian Literature. Unfortunately, the trend of
University Education in modern India has been to absorb the whole attention
of the student-folk in mastering the technicalities of a foreign tongue ; and,
while it has deprived them of sound scholarship in oriental subjects, it has not
equipped them with genuine mastery in any modern European science. And
so far as Botany is concerned, it has until recently been grossly neglected,
whether in its theoretical or economic and applied branches. The result has
been a complete absence of interest on the part of Indians in things Botanical,
abstract or utilitarian, modern or ancient.
When Europeans began to study the plants of India, they did not
naturally care to inquire into the traditions of Hindu Botany and could not
at all be interested in developing what the children of the Indian soil had
achieved in this department of learning in the days of yore. They came out
to India as medical men, botanists, or foresters and industrialists, and found
in India a rich field for applying or correcting and modifying the systematic
and ecological ideas that obtained currency in Europe of the later 18th and
1 To those who would take up the historical investigation into the really scientific
contributions of the Hindus in the field of Abstract Botany, the chapter on Theophrastus
in Greene’s Landmark « in invaluable as suggesting not only the methodology, but also
the lines of inquiry that would be required to bring into forefront the hitherto neglected
pioneers of science. It is remarkable that Theophrastus, whom Greene elevates to
the dignity of *' Father of Botany ” in 1909, was only casually noticed by Dr. Sachs in
his celebrated History of Botany, published in 1875, which the translator for Clarendon
Press, Oxford, regarded as a “ masterly sketch” even in 1890.
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early 19th centuries. India was to them a laboratory that supplied novel and
interesting data for the inductive generalisations of a science that had been
developing in Europe from Theophrastus to Linnaeus. The Botanical inves¬
tigations of these Europeans in India were thus new contributions to the already
growing fund of European Botany and flourished absolutely independent of
what the ancient Hindu masters might have observed and recorded, preserved
and developed till the days of the Maratha hegemony.
The terms “Indian Botany” and “Indian Forestry” are thus really
misnomers, for they do not indicate anything beyond the fact that the rich
flora lying within the geographical limits of India have been identified, named,
registered, tabulated and described, botanically or economically, according to-
the terminology, nomenclature and taxonomy of a science that was then
passing through its infantile stages. The sole interest of the pioneers of the
so-called 11 Indian Botany ” was identification and botanical description of the
vegetable denizens of India in the interest of European science, industry and
commerce.
In 1790 Sir William Jones, founder and first President of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, gave a discourse on the medicinal plants of India in which
he clearly indicated the lines of work that should be followed by botanical
explorers and writers“Some hundreds of plants, which are yet imperfectly
known to European Botanists, and with the virtues of which they are wholly
unacquainted, grow wild on the plains and in the forests of India. The
Amara-ko$a t an excellent vocabulary of the Sanskrit language, contains in
one chapter the names of about three hundred medicinal vegetables ; the Medini
may comprise many more; and the Dravy&bhidh&na or Dictionary of natural
productions, includes, I believe, a far greater number ; the properties of which
are distinctly related in medical tracts of approved authority. Now the first
step, in compiling a treatise on the plants of India, should be to write their
true names in Roman letters, according to their most accurate orthography,
and in Sanscrit , preferably to any vulgar dialect; because a learned language
is fixed in books, while popular idioms are in constant fluctuation, and will
not perhaps be understood a century hence by the inhabitants of these Indian
territories whom future botanists may consult on the common appellations of
trees and flowers.” 1
The founder of the first oriental research society in India was naturally
anxious to do spade-work 1 for enriching European art, industry and science.
Exactly similar were the motive and enthusiasm that inspired the Flora Indtca
(1855), the monumental work on Indian Botany, prepared at Kew, under the
direction of Dr. Hooker, at the chief cost of the Secretary of State for India.
1 Asiatic Researches , Vol. II. XXII. pp. 270-271.
i Another such modern misnomer is Indian Economics, a term which does not seem
to mean anything beyond the description and cataloguing of the present day economic
resources and organisations of the country.
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In 1874 Mr. C. B. Clarke, in the Preface to the Reprint of Roxburgh’s pioneer-
work 1 on Indian Plants, describes the merits of Hooker’s labours which were
directed mainly to a proper identification and cataloguing. 14 The Kew Indian
Flora is of the highest value to Botanists, it tells those in India what material
there is at Kew and how the names are arranged 1 there. And it will, when
finished, form the foundation on which all future botanic work in India will
be grounded. After the plants have been botanically determined and the names
attached , so that we are tolerably sure in general that we all mean by the same
name the same thing , we may commence economic and other branches of
investigation with advantage. Drs. Hooker and Thomson have rightly urged
that the Botanical determination of the plants must come first before any
satisfactory progress elsewhere can be made ; and Indian Botanists have been
right for generations in concentrating and narrowing their work in the manner
that Drs. Hooker and Thomson indicated.”
Identification and Determination of Indian Plants were thus the principal
objects of the founders of the so-called 11 Indian Botany,” There were some
investigators who were not content with mere cataloguing and botanising,
but added to these a study of the economic uses of Plants, as medical drugs
or otherwise. Thus, to quote Mr. C. B. Clarke again, 11 Roxburgh contains all
the economic Indian botany known to him. • • • Roxburgh is roost
trustworthy in his economic botany. • • • The Government of India but
a few years back, called on Mr. Kurz to draw up a Forest Hand Flora for
Burma which should comprise (among other things) a classified account of
the different sets of forests, with all the trees in each, and the plants that
usually accompanied each: an account of the method and habit of growth
of each tree, and an account of the quality of the wood of each, and a special
account of all the species likely to prove of economic value.”
In his paper* on the study of indigenous drugs, Surgeon-Captain (now
Major) B. D. Basu, I. M. S. gave an account of the work of scholars in the
medical department of the economic aspects of Indian Plants from the estab¬
lishment of the Asiatic Society of Bengal to 1891. 44 In the beginning of this
century John Fleming contributed a valuable paper on the medical plants
of this country. For the first time the scattered information on the subject
was collected and placed before the medical profession. * * * Dr. Waring,
who edited the Indian Pharmacopoeia, 4 was one of the most painstaking and
careful observers of the properties and uses of indigenous drugs. His atten¬
tion was drawn to the subject when serving out in Burma. The stock of
1 Roxburgh's Flora Indian was published in 1832.
* The Italics are ours.
* Indian Medical Gazette, August, 1892.
4 Published under the authority of the Secretary of State for India “ with the view
of bringing to the notice of the profession in India those iudigonous drugs which European
experience has proved to possess value as medicinal agents, and which may be employed
as efficient sulwtitutes for imported articles," t
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his European medicines having been exhausted, he was in great perplexity
and hardly knew what to do. In such a crisis, he turned to the medicinal
plants of the country. He found indigenous drugs to answer his purpose as
satisfactorily as the costly imported medicines of Europe.'*
Enough has been said to show that, during the period from the last two
decades of the 18th century, the sole aim of botanical researches in India
has been
(1) to study scientifically or economically the vegetation of the Indian
continent, according to the accepted doctrines of contemporary European
thinkers;
(2) to look upon India solely as a vast herbarium supplying specimens
for the scholars in the western world; and
(3) to ransack or exploit Indian vegetation in the interest of a foreign
industry, commerce and science.
There has been no attempt
(t) to take stock of the existing Hindu literature on the subject of plants,
whether as plants , or as drugs and useful commodities, or
(2) to maintain and continue the studies of the ancient and mediaeval
scholars of India (whether scientific or utilitarian), and develop the intellectual
heritage bequeathed by them to posterity. Thus, during the period which has
witnessed the growth of Botanical sciences, arts and industries from the
insignificant juvenile condition (which was almost on a par with that obtaining
among the Hindus) into one of immense magnitude, the genuine Indian Botany,
which should have been a continuation and further development of the work
of the ancestors of the present race of Indians, is not only where it was, but has
been managed to be forgotten and thrown into the limbo of oblivion, from
which it is today impossible and even regarded as unnecessary to rescue.
The so-called ‘ Indian Botany * of the modern times, pioneered by Europeans
and collaborated at both by Indian 1 and western scholars, covers really an
insignificant niche in the daily-growing museum of the sciences, arts and
economic products built up by the people of western countries. And Indians
are left in the position of mourning over a national loss: " When we remember
how great a part Indian plants have played in contributing to the material
and spiritual wealth of India, and in influencing Indian life in its manifold
aspects; and when we take into consideration the important place Botany
should occupy in every scheme of liberal education, not only as a particular
branch of physical science, but also as the most stimulating and refreshing
subject of learning, we can estimate the loss both in intellect and material
wealth we have been suffering from owing to the neglect of this study. The
irony of the situation is that we do not see that the study is the cheapest and
1 Important Indian names are Ud%y Chand Dutt, Moodeen Sheriff, K.K. Kirtikar, T. N.
Mookerji, N, G. Mookerji, Upendra Nath Kanjilal, Bhandajee, Naraiudajee, B. D. Bass,
Sakharam Arjnn, Lisboa, Ranade, Kanay Lall Dey, Kaviraj Biraja Oharan Gupta.
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least expensive. To add to the tragedy, we forget that the study is also the
most paying; for India is the country where worldly careers and lucrative
professions can be built up on the products of the vegetable kingdom alone.’* 1
In the history of Hindu Botany, then, the whole 19th century—the period
of Botany strictly so called in Europe—is a total blank. It has not only given
rise to no men who could undertake independent original investigations in the
scientific aspects of Plant-life, but has even produced none who could collect,
summarise, and adapt or modernise the teachings of their forefathers. The
practitioners in the Ayurvedic system of medicine have but kept up a tolerable
second-hand familiarity with the names and uses of the indigenous medicinal
plants, through the services of professional herbalists, the Musheras in Central
and Upper India,* the low caste Maules, Bagdis, Pods, Chandals, Kaoros and
Karanges in Bengal, and the Chandras, Bhils and G&mt&s in Bombay.
3. Summary of Researches in Hindu Botany .*
Under these circumstances, it is not strange that people should entertain
doubt regarding the achievements of Hindus in botanical science and the
existence of such a thing as the Science of Botany in ancient Hindu litera¬
ture. The field is altogether untrodden, and awaits the thankless labour of
patient investigators, who must be adequately equipped with the double engine
of a thorough mastery of modern Botany and a general grasp of the several
branches of Hindu literature. And the problem is to carefully glean from
the extraneous literary, medical and economic associations, in which the plants
have been mentioned by Hindu authors, the abstract ideas and purely scientific
concepts, if any, regarding their life-history, morphology, physiology, habit &c.
In the following pages quotations from the works on subjects more or
less allied to these topics are being appended, to give an idea of the up-to-date
research undertaken.
(a) Gondal\
The Thakur Sahib of Gondal’s History of Aryan Medical Science * though
not the first work on the subject of Hindu medicine, contains perhaps the
first treatment of Hindu Botany. The following is taken from Chapter VII,
called Indian Materia Medica. The Ancient Aryans have taken the trouble
to examine and study all the herbs that came under their observation, and
classified them into groups or Ganas. Charaka gives fifty groups of ten herbs
1 The Economic t Botany of India by Prof. Bhim Chandra Chatterjl (published by the
District Council of National Education, Malda, Bengal 1910’, pp. 12-18.
2 See the paper On the Study of Indigenous Drugs By Surgeon-Captain (now Major)
B. D. Basu, 1. M. 8., in the Indian Medical Gazette, July 1891.
3 See the history of mineralogical literature for the names of treatises dealing with
plants and plant life. Mineralogy, Chemistry and Botany of the Hindus are to be culled
mainly from their medical literature. Non-medical literature is also likely to yield genuine
scientific notions, if critically studied.
4 Published by Macmillan 3c Co., London, 1896. Previous works are those of Drs. Wise
and UdoychAnd Dutt,
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each, which, he thinks, “are enough for the purposes of an ordinary physician”,
though at the same time he adds that 11 the number of groups can be increased
to any extent.” Similarly, Susruta has arranged 760 herbs in 37 sets, accord¬
ing to some common properties. Other writers have added to the list, which
forms an interesting literature of the materia medica of India. They have
also described the proper seasons for gathering the herbs, the period of their
growth, when they possess their distinctive properties, the localities from which
they should be collected, and the manner of treating them, extracting their
active principles, and preserving them. Some of the groups 1 mentioned by
Indian writers are given below
1. Anga marda prarfamana (anti-spasmodic), as Vidarigandha (Costus
speciosus)
2. Anuloma (Cathartic), as Haritaki (Terminalia chebula)
Agnivesa enumerates no less than 500 classes of medicinal agents,
arranged according to their real or supposed virtues in curing diseases A
few classes have been selected from this and other sources and noted above.
The chief notable feature in connexion with the nomenclature of the
Indian plants is that in several cases their names are descriptive either of
their character or of their property. A few instances of names,* descriptive
of the prominent specific character of the herb, may be given below:—
(a) Brachyramphus sonchifolius is called Akhu-karn! (rat-eared), as the
leaves of the plant resemble the ears of a mouse
(A) Acorus calamus is called Ugra-gandha (strong-smelling), because
it gives off a very pungent odour.
(<r) Cliloria lernatea is called Go-kariji (cow-eared), from the supposed
resemblance of the seeds to the ears of a cow.
(d) Datura alba is called Ghantapuapa (bell-flower), from the shape
of its flowers.
The following are a few names 5 descriptive of the inherent virtue of the
herb :—
(a) Amygdalus communis is called Vata-vairt (wind-enemy), as it cures
disorders of the wind.
(b) Embelia ribes is called Krimighna (worm-killer), from its anthelmin¬
tic properties.
(c) Ophelia chiretta is named Jvarantaka (fever, ending), for it is sup¬
posed to check fever.
' A list of 75 names has been given by the Thakur Sahib. See pp. 104-110.
» A list of 10 names has been given. See pp. 110-11.
> A list of 10 names has been given. See pp. 111-118.
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(d) Semecarpus anacardium is known as Aruskara (eschar causing),
because when applied to a living part its juice gives rise to an eschar.
Each successive writer, after a patient and careful investigation, appears
to have added new drugs 1 to the existing list. Some of the writers emphati¬
cally assert that all curative agents mentioned in their treatises have been
thoroughly tested and recommended after a long practical experience. Sus-
ruta strongly recommends that physicians should be able to identify the vari¬
ous remedial agents they have to deal with. They should personally go to
the jungles, and with the help of shepherds, graziers, ascetics, travellers and
others familiar with the forest, gather the herbs when they are in flower,
taking care to avoid those injured by insects, or growing in situations con¬
taining nests of white ants, or where bodies have been burnt or buried, or
from ground in which there is much salt. Narahari Pandit (author of Rdja-
nighnnlu of the 17th century) describes the properties of different kinds of
soil, the nature of soils suitable for the cultivation of various medicinal plants,
varieties of trees, cereals, oils, vegetables, roots, leaves, flowers and fruits.
(6) Dr. Sen .
It would appear that the Thakur Sahib did not approach the subject from
our standpoint, viz., the study of the strictly scientific ideas of the Hindus regard¬
ing plants and plant life. However, no subsequent scholar has interested himself
in the subject to any special extent, and this is all that constitutes the founda¬
tion of modern researches in ancient Hindu botanical studies.
In his paper on the study of medical science iu ancient India,* Dr.
Gaqandth Sen gives the following paragraph on the subject : “ In Botany,
unfortunately, very scanty records have been left in the writings of R&ghava
Bhatta and Sdrangadhara—an important section of which (Upavanavinoda)
the humble writer of this paper had the honour of editing and translating
some years ago. The informations contained in these books are numerous.
Plants have been called slhdvarajiva , or fixed animals, and pleasure and
pain have been attributed to them. (Compare in this connection the recent
discoveries of Plant Response by the illustrious Dr. J. C. Bose of Calcutta).
Again, plants have been called sexual and a-sexual, although the details of
the sexual phase are missing. Much advance in the practical application of
Botany appears to have been made. A regular symptomatology of plants has
been described under the name, Briksdyurveda, and the treatment of certain
diseases of plants has been stated. Then, again, an interesting science of
finding out sub-terranean veins 0/ water , 9 as the geologist calls them, has been
briefly described by certain signs, which, says tradition, often come off correct.”
1 See Hist, of Ar. mrd. 8c. pp. 118-128, for the new drugs introduced by successive
writers. The Thakur frahib’s chronology requires to be corrected iu the light of recent
research, e.g., of Dr. P. C. Ray in the History of Hindu Chemistry.
* Read at the 8ahitya 8abM of Calcutta, September, 1906, published by the satne
society in 1908.
* Of. Chapter LIV of Brihat Samhitd, called Dagdrgalam.
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( 800 )
(c) Prof . Chatter ji.
In the Eeonotnic Botany of India 1 by Prof. Bhim Chandra Chatterji of
the National Council of Education, Bengal, there are a few more details about
the achievements of Hindus in the field of botanical science, with remarks as
to their relative, historical and comparative values by reference to the progress
of the science in Europe. His general remarks on Indian Botany are given
below: 11 This characteristic of Indian culture* that it was essentially
practical, meant for and adapted to, the thousand and one duties of actual
life, has made it always very comprehensive, ^ll-embracing, and all-inclusive.
Every SAstra or PurAqa or SamhitA has thus become an Encyclopaedia; * * *
and, as in the physical, so in the human sciences, we search in vain for the
differentiation of knowledge into various branches corresponding to the various
aspects of human life. We have no Indian psychology, no Indian ethics, no
Indian politics, just as we have no Indian physics, no Indian chemistry, no
Indian botany, and so forth, as independent and distinct branches of learning,
differentiated from the treatises on universal knowledge.
•• * * * European Botany has had a far different history. ♦ * * Not
only were the main branches of learning divided among specialists for exclu¬
sive study ; but each of the various departments of the same branch began
to enlist on its behalf the whole time and energy of special sections of the
devoted men of science. Add to this the intellectual energy of Europe that
became multiplied by being divided and differentiated for the furtherance of
national interests and promotion of national glory (owing to the creation of
national churches, national states, national literatures, and national schools),
and we may form an idea of the enormous labour that has been spent ungrudg¬
ingly upon what is to-day a vast Botanical science, which, again, is being split
up into independent sciences, distinct from one another.
“ But Indian Botany has claims to our recognition on absolute grounds
as well, as having suggested, recognised or discovered some truths about
vegetable life which are accepted by modern phytotomy and physiology/*
In Internal Morphology we have such descriptions as those of Tinoepora
cordtfolia (Guduchi) which is characterised as Chakrdngi, Kundali ; Mandate
&c,—terms referring to the annular rings so prominent in the cross-section or
transverse section of the creeper. Metamorphosis of leaves, descriptions of cha¬
racteristic leaves according to the similarities with the animal world, knowledge
~~ » This brochure was published by the District Council of National Education. Maid*,
(Bengal) in 1010 and intended to interest people in the forthcoming work on Indian
Medicinal Plants (a Systematic study, along modern scientific lines, of the most important
medicinal plants of India, specially those mentioned in the original Sanskrit works, and
also of several other useful plants) with 1800 plates, by Lt. Colonel K. R. Kirtikar, Major
B. D. Basu, Prof. Bhlmchandra Chatterji and an 1.0. S. The work has been in the .press for
some time and will be published by the PAnini Office, Allahabad, in 1015.
*Pp. 18-11.
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of adventitious roots Ac., may be referred to as evidences of the study of ex¬
ternal morphology. In physiology it must be credited to the Hindus that they
know of plants as living organisms. Prof. Chatterji quotes from the Sdntiparva 1
of the Mah&bh&rata to prove their acquaintance with the sap-circulation*, nour¬
ishment, power of movement, independent growth and reproduction of plants,
“ It reflects great credit on those scholars that they conceived the idea of
the sexuality of plants and the truth that flowers are the organs of sexual repro¬
duction in higher plants—notions which were first suggested by Camerius
towards the close of the 17th century and which have been demonstrated in
the 18th and 19th centuries by the studies of Koelrenter, Herbart and Gaertner
in hybridisation. To express this sexuality some are even expressly named
as such, yonipufpa (Cletoria termeata), littgapuqpa (Nerium odorum), meaning
respectively the female and the male—and these, together with such terms as
vajrapu$pa , menstrual blood of a certain type in Tantra, would lead to the idea
that the fact of the flower being the genetive organ of the tree was not un¬
familiar to them.”
Phosphorescence* and exudation 4 of water were probably known. The
! anarawRfrg%! a ant: 1
jwaanfaif*f?a ayiaa^ 11
naih uiail if * •
jut* arfi nMn* n
m ya 1
at*% 31ft naaw a ry a f fr aiaar: 11
agt n a«tow*a aarfn 1
ifti awe mawi ^tj »
ynr a*Qaaaa WaWa 1
abar: jffcnn: af*u awfarofai ar^ar: 11
aif: afoa-aiaij m a ^a r sa i f a ^ara 1
nrfa-sft flw aqf fa*ft aaa 3% 11
a s w^wwiijh a^qfaaaa^u 1
an aaaayi : fnrfa araa: «
jejiuktaa naara Han a infant 1
dhl maifa aeiaia^u*a a 11 nf^aa*^ aararoi 1
T Sap-circulation was discovered by Harvey in the 17th century.
* a^auai aRaianai aO^iaa^faaaiaisr 1
aafra n$Na*tr wa i af l s a u : m
si aa$a agr a^aRf aarf^amaia: 1
wnuaaWapr: 11 Kumdrasambhavara.
tiftfwwwfl 3 ^sa afastfa a 1
s at fi rmaufua ra r a aa^rar a gnfar 11 Dhanwantari-nighantu.
adffcatft isawwiawntT saHaaar at anfi jfagar 1
$pr a %nr afrap a jnNr awtf anqynda a aat nRdjanighantu.
4 uafhai as^naywrar 1
hafhi ayaW aaa^h gatuar Rdjanighantu.
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knowledge of Heliotropic movement is indicated by such terms as Adityakrdnta,
Sutyabhakid, etc* that of Nyctitropic movement by such terms as Awjafikdrikd
(folded palm), Namaskdrl (plant which bows down), Sparsalajjd (which feels
bashfulness at touch), referring to Mimosa pudxca . Rejuvenation, separation and
multiplication of the individuals which are so essential requisties of reproduc¬
tion seem also to have been well understood.
Prof. Chatterji traces in the Rig Veda (VIII—47-9 and II, 1-14) the know¬
ledge of Photosynthesis and the action of light and storage of energy on plants.
The facts that the sun is the source of energy in the fuel, that it is the
setting sun, i.e., that having less refractive rays whence the energy is trans¬
formed and kept in the potential form in the fuel, and that this potential energy
is manifested as fire or heat, are also known.
The two points, (i)the assimilation of potential energy from the sun and
(2) the special suitability of red, orange and yellow rays lor the more effective
assimilation of plants, i.e., for the storage of energy in the potential form, are
definitely suggested in the following:—
swnit 3*: 1 Rig. viii. 43-9.
raamdw: atf atari :« Rig. 2-1-14.
swftwfiS *fatffan daw anftft 1 Mallin&tha.
Rffrt fa: sfaT* jnnn: 1 Raghuvamsam.
The first of these is clearly stated in the above by the terms ^ 5*:"
anf fad” and in the whole of the last texts, which further show that the sun
is ihe source of the energy in the fuel and that it is the setting sun, i.e., having
the less refractive rays w.ience the fa: <>r energy is tiansformed and kept in the
potential form, which is manifested as fire or heat.
The Theory of Evolution has been described in the following—
(1) awvm: tmn: ssuwi 1 vimm aij: ai^rdp: vfant: wjp: dMfr, dfaff %ni-
fwia fa: fan; jn: 1 Chhandogya Upanisat.
(2) wratft'ifaw wnr mi
jwhrc ww qsfa ^ dfa: «
^ tnt: 1
mb htw nnwi*irti% w
iwt 1
vfarfn* vftrw ffliffafan pin; it Brihat Visqu Purftqa.
In the Brihat Visnu Purdna an attempt has been made to give the succes¬
sive stages of development of man to even Brahmayoni , the highest form of
existence. The Phylogenetic and Ontogenetic developments are laid down as
well as the comparative duration of the stages. The successive number of
stages would indeed be visible only after thousands of years of persistent
scientific observation of a race of Darwins.
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( 203 )
Two things should be further noticed in the text of Bnhat Vtsnu Purdna .
First, that aquatic life precedes the monkey life, and that the monkey is the
progenitor of man. Again, the descent of man from some aquatic animal,
although by a remote degree, is grasped with equal acuteness. These ideas arc
attributed to Darwin ; and our countrymen are scarcely aware of the fact that
the truths did not fail to strike the savants of ancient India.
Vidy&pati has given the order from the highest to successive lower
stages
ft* ’■nj* *5 i
wwt n
ftll J>| I
gif ** sf «
That Indian literature should contain such a full account of the evolution of
the animal kingdom from the vegetable world, which could be seen only by a
Darwin or a Haeckel in such recent times as the 19th century, ought to inspire
thoughtful Indians with a noble vanity, and should infuse into our countrymen
a spirit of research with a view to finding out the truths in our S&*tras.
“The idea of gradual evolution of higher organisms from lower, was familiar
to the Greek philosophers, but a scientific basis was given to this hypothesis
in the last century “ (Strasburger). Says Prof. Chatterji: “ Is it not our duty to
demonstrate to the world that the Hindu sages conceived the idea long before
it was dreamt of by any other nation, and as such, their names should
precede those of any other philosophers? Had the commentators been as
acute in explaining these texts, Darwin might have been anticipated in our
country long before his name could be heard in the world ; or is it that
some such commentators lie unnoticed in the dark caves of the Himalayas?—
“Some mute inglorious Milton here my rest !”
In all the above, however, I would only remark that these truths of Botani¬
cal Physiology were known to the Hindus simply as facts , but no trace has been
found as yet regarding their knowledge of the “ science” of physiology, i,e , 9
as to how these take place in nature; in short, they have observed the facts with¬
out caring to ‘ explain * them or assign reasons. And here, again, as in so many
other things, we have to continue, by our specialised efforts, the work of our
ancestors, and develop them along the proper lines, just as the European
scholars of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries have, by their own labours, improved
upon, and added to, the heritage bequeathed by their ancestors of the classic age.
In Systematic Botany nothing approaching the keen observation and gene¬
ralisation of modern times is to be found. One peculiarity has not been traced
through a sufficiently large number of plants, and we find only isolated
instances of two or three plants classified under one group. Thus, m ( Pinus
longifolia) and (Pinus deodara ) are placed in oue group. 1. one is
described just after the other in Modanap&la-Nighantu , and such instances are
found in abundance in all the authors, fantar or ( Pinus gerardine) could
have also been placed in the same group, but. instead, it is named along with
(Juglans regia) t etc.
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The basis of classification is the property of the plants; in all
sweet-scented things, such as Sandal wood, are mentioned, and in anriall
vegetables. In these, however, further subdivisions are made, and here we
find some more systematic arrangement, as all ewta, (Cucurbita papo\
(Beni nc as a cerifera) etc., are grouped together. When one thing has more than
one property it is grouped to bring out, as in Cucurbitacect, the most prominent
characteristic, the whole being adjusted to the convenience of a practical man.
(Acacia catechu) t (Acacia sundria ), (A.fame-
siana) and siR (A. pennata) are all put together in Dhanvantari and in Rlja-
nighantu in which is based on the common possession of thorns. Again,
many of the plants in Cucurbilacece have been placed together most possibly
for similarity of the fruit, aw**, in Saxafraga and
(Melia a*adirachta\ (Afelia azadxrachta\ wzA (AHanthus excelsa Roxb),
of the Afeliancece order, have been placed together for the similarity of the
bitterness of the principle in flowers, fruits and leaves. Plants producing
bulbs are sometimes placed together. So, in short, any quality or peculiarity
has been taken, and plants divided into various artificial groups.
The above will substantiate the view that, under each varga or principal
group, the members of the same family have been placed together, these so
often possessing many properties in common.
The identifying principle accepted by the Indian Botanists depends upon a
large number of facts, such as (i) locality, which touches upon Geographical
Botany, (2) description of the plant by comparison of its leaves, flowers, roots,
fruit, branch, juice, colour, smell and property etc., with some other known
things. TheSe things are so given that in most cases all the connotations of
one are not found in any other; but very unfortunately, in many cases, the
synonyms are highly preplexing indeed.
One instance will be sufficient here to show the difficulty, wyrfl* (Sal-
vania cucullata) and (lpomaa reniformis) are thus described :
Ipomaa reni/ormis :
artaWl nr twt N Dhanwantari.
ftSAil nwd law *
nr spit N
S ja w ff Rw arff afirrff a er 1
ftwrwv ^if^aiaf n R&ja-nighantu.
Salvania cucullata :
afaw aawift law 1
*jaawa arft' ag ufo'm a n
wm aftaft twt waft aynRw 1
aar ^a 11 R&ja-nighantu.
The comparison will show the synonyms, and the description of one will
be seen to be a mere repetition of the other. The local name is also gaiarffr for
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both. The properties, however, in one are different from those in the other ;
fortunately, these are observed in local usages. Hence, the one can be dis¬
tinguished from the other simply by taking advantage of the properties and
nothing else.
Such synonyms recur in many places, and we find
identification:
•nsrfiftw fw *piy
the following rule for
jtpr tfaWNr n Rdjanighantu.
In many cases, however, the descriptions are quite characteristic, as in
qwvwft, e.g m} Orchis laii/olia t which is thus described.
wnh m RAjanighantu.
In this, instead of speaking of any of its peculiarities, the specialist just
compares it with the folded palm of the hand which will at once identify it and
differentiate it from the rest of the vegetable world.
From terms used in the slokas as synonyms, we get the entire clue to the
identification of the plant. A negligence in thoroughly examining these terms
has led to disastrous mistakes which have spoilt half the merit of our well-
tried system of medicine.
The classifications adopted in Charaka in describing and in
Susruta in w#'n^wr: are based purely upon the properties of plants; conse¬
quently these involve the repetition of one plant in different places. Of the same
plant possessing several properties, for instance, (Glycyrrhiza glabra or
Liquorice root), mention has been made in connection with
1. (medicines which prolong life)
2. wrfwiR (medicines which promote the union of fractured or divided
parts.)
3. (medicines which improve the complexion)
4. (medicines which improve the voice)
5. (medicines which cure pruritus)
6. (medicines which relieve vomiting)
7. jC h ffotfw r fi (medicines which alter the colour of the faeces)
8. yrftxqrfwrR (medicines wich alter the colour of urine)
In each of these groupings there are ten plants mentioned. So there is
a cross division in many cases.
In Susruta also we find similar classification, according to properties of
matter. Other treatises on Medicine also group them according to certain
peculiarities, and each grouping is fantastically named after a certain
distinguished member of the group. For example, we find in Dhanwantari
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Nighantu —fwwf^«tf:, mgif^vi:, aranif^an:,
in Madanap&la Nighantu— m wr f^w :, yynffrfr , «;,
werf^i:, qwiR^w:, nwm: fro;, vw<:, in Bhdvaprakdsa —
aerf^afc, urarf^wwrt: i
It would thus appear that the Indian system of classification does not
accurately correspond to the classification into Natural Orders which has been
founded under the unfluence of the Dogma of the Constancy of Species during
the period from 1750 to 1850, and under that of the study of the Cryptogams in
the latter half of the 19th century. It differs widely from the artificial classifi¬
cations of Brunfels, Fuchs, and other Botanists of Germany and Netherlands who
flourished in the 16th century, or of Cisalpino, the Italian Botanist of the same
century, who attempted to divide plants into groups by philosophical reflection.
While mainly artificial , the Indian system may be compared not to that of
Linnaeus, but of Jussieus, who based it on properties. And for all practical
purposes, whatever may be said against its scientific value, a system based on
properties was more useful than the systems of the early European Botanists,
which, according to Sachs, were too vague and insufficient for identification.
(1 d) Other Scholars
In a recent publication 1 Dr. Sumant B. Mehta, lately personal physician
to H. H. the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda says : “Susruta divides the vegetable
kingdom into Vriksa, Gulina, Vanaspati, and Virudha. More information of
the science exists in the writings of Rdgliava Bhatta and Sftrangadhara, a sec¬
tion of which, called Vpavanavinoda , has been translated by Dr. Gagan&th Sen
of Calcutta. The divisions mentioned above have been worked out into minute
subdivisions, but a systematic Botany like the one developed in Europe in
modern times did not exist in India! Occasional mention of the habitat of plants,
and the description of their foliage exists, but there is no system about it The
ancient physicians have indeed written several books on the Materia Medica,
and they have laid great stress on the individual characteristics of drugs, which
would make the work of identification easy.”
In a very short paper* on the names of Vedic plants, Mr. Bijaychandra
Majumdar has drawn the attention of Bengali readers to the scientific aspect of
Hindu Botany, but has touched only the fringe of it.
Appendix A.
(e) Dr. Seal.
Dr. Brajendranath Seal has kindly furnished me his notes on scientific
concepts of the Hindus regarding plant physiology and classification. His
studies are based mainly on non-medical literature and rare commentaries of
older authorities. His researches therefore exculde the sources that are gene¬
rally utilised by students of Hindu botany and medicine. The papers, however,
1 The Ayurvedic tiyetem of Medicine (Navsari, Bombay, 1918), p, 28,
* The Bengali monthly, Bh&ratt , for K&rtic 1918,
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reached me after the printing of this work had considerably advanced. Hence
they are placed in the'Appendix along with other papers from the same pen.
4. Concluding Remarks.
The foregoing account is a summary of all that has been done in
investigating the contributions of the ancient Hindus to the universal science of
botany. The account is very meagre, indeed, and indicates that up till now no
serious effort has really been made to estimate the botanical value of the
Hindu writings on medicine, agriculture, grammar, astronomy, &c. It is high
time that the work should be taken up in right earnest as a piece of historical
research.
Identification and determination of Indian plants have been rendered toler¬
ably easy. " The principal factors which have contributed to increase our know¬
ledge of indigenous drugs during this century have been the labours of men like
O’Shanghnessy, Waring, and Kanny Lall Dey, the holding of Exhibitions, the
works of botanists, and forest-officers ; and lastly the various scientific socie¬
ties, notably the Bengal Asiatic Society, the Calcutta Medico-Physical Society,
and the Agri-Horticultural Society.” 1 The work before Indian Botanists
to-day is to equip themselves with a knowledge of Sanskrit and Vernacular
literatures and ransack the whole field of Indian literature in order (i) to
find out the species of plants named or described therein and (ii) discover in the
light of modern knowledge the scientific truths or half-truths they were intend¬
ed to impart.
There is no reason for despair. The new Teaching Universities with
Research Departments that are being promoted throughout the length and
breadth of India at important centres, the Oriental Research Institute pro¬
jected by the Government of India, the College of Science financed by the
philanthropic donors of Bengal, Sir Tarak Nath Palit and Dr. Rashbehari
Ghosh, the private Academies of Research, and literary as well as educational
Councils that have been ushered into being during the last two decades or
so, under the impulse of popular upheaval here and there and everywhere
in India—all these are expected to be seminaries of independent thought
and nurseries of original scholars who would devote themselves to studying
the pressing problems of the day together with the antiquities of the country.
So that in the near future the national culture and civilisation of India may
assert their rightful place in the consciousness of mankind and the history of
human progress.
• The Study of Indigenous Drugs in the Indian Medical Quzette, August, 1892.
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CHAPTER VI.
THH DATA OP ANOIBNT INDIAN ZOOLOGY.
Section i.
The Secular Sciences of the Hindus .
In trying to estimate the knowledge of the Sukra authors regarding the
physical and objective world, we have incidentally noticed in the two preceding
chapters several important facts in the history of Indian culture :
I. The mineralogical, medical, chemical, and botanical sciences, industries,
and arts were wide and deep enough to be drawn upon with advantage by
writers of general Sociological treatises like Sukraniti.
II. In these physical or u nature studies ” lay the forte of special schools
of Hindu thinkers, who, as masters or commentators 1 , were the authors of
specialised* branches of scientific literature.
III. These schools of Hindu physical science, whether embodied in indivi¬
dual * masters* or collective organisations like the Parisats (#>., Academies),
stood up not simply for the conservation of the statical products of a bygone age,
but represented in and through them the dynamical processes of the march of
human knowledge. They thus kept moving (i) from epoch to epoch and (ii)
from province to province according to the progress of scientific spirit and.general
culture in Hindusthan, and hence more or less resembled, both in diversity of
administration and uniformity of language and literature, the so many scattered
centres of culture and learning, called the Universities, which sprang up into
existence in the German’-speaking world, during the period from the 14th to the
1 The importance of these commentators in Indian Literature who were not servile
copyists or imitators, but enriched the texts commented upon by the addition of their own
original investigations as well as the culture of ages, has been critically vindicated by
Goldstttcker in his P&?tni.
*See Major Basu’s paper on Indigenous Medicine in the Modern Review for March
1914.
a See the account of the development of German Universities in Merz’s History of
European Thought in the 19th century , Vol. I, pp. 159-163 ; also the Footnotes. The great
cultural uniformity of Hindusthan and the fundamental unity of the Indian Soul as attested
by the (i) existence of Sanskrit as the common language for educated and spiritual India
and the (ii) predominance and emphasis of the same sets of morals, manners, sentiments
and traditions in the everyday life and institutions of the people throughout the length :iud
breadth of India (inspite of the thousand and one barriers to political unity presented by
the kaleidoscopic revolutions and boundary-settlements) may be compared with the unifying
conditions of German culture, learning and civilisation, inspite of the diversity and disuniou
of political life that characterise the history of the German peoples till the formation of
a nationality and an empire in 1870.
The following facts about the history of German culture have a close parallel
in the history of Indian civilisation: “ It is not a stationary power, but is continually
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18th century. The Indian sciences should not t therefore, be regarded as the
finished creations of certain golden eras in Indian history or the characteristic
products of one or other of the various races that have peopled India, but are the
results (i) of a continuous evolution incorporating the cumulative experience of
ages, and (ii) of the conscious or unconscious collaboration of master-minds,
systematises, compilers and commentators belonging to the north, south, east,
west and middle of India.
IV. A rigid and unbiassed comparison of the achievements of the Hindus
in physical sciences, whether as academic and abstract branches of learning or
as aids to practical and utilitarian aspects of life with the contributions of the
western thinkers to the same would show that in Europe it is really during
the Revolutionary period (1789-1815) or more strictly speaking since 1815 1
that the epoch of the Industrial Revolution and the pre-eminently scientific era
which characterise the modern age really begins. And that previous to that,
i>„ up to about the beginning of the 19th century, the Hindu, as well as the
European thinkers were almost on a par. The inductive sciences of the west had
not till then displayed the magnificent results which we have been accustomed
to associate with them during the latter half of the 19th century. So that it is
only the last century’s work by which the people of Hindusthan are behind their
colleagues in the west.
Section 2 .
The Alleged Decline oj Hindu Intellect .
This aspect of the question requires a little elaborate treatment, since
even one of the greatest scientists of our country seems to have been carried
away and have supplied the cue for a lament over the “decline of scientific
spirit ” among the Hindus, and over “ this land of intellectual torpor and
stagnation/’
on the move from south to north, from west to east, to and fro, exchanging and recruiting
its forces, bringing heterogeneous elements into close contact, spreading everywhere
the seed of new ideas and discoveries, and preparing new land for still more extended
cultivation.” “The migration of students as well as etniuent professors from one
University to another is one of the most important features of Qerraan academic life.”
“ There is scarcely a stronger bond of union between the various parts of Germany
than that supplied by the Universities, and in no other respect have the barriers that
separated state from state been so long broken down." See in this connexion Prof.
Radhakumud Mookerji’s Fundamental Geographical Unity of India. (Longmans Green
& Oo., 1914).
1 For an account of the comparatively recent origins of the ‘ modern’ sciences see
Weir's Historical Basis of Modern Europe (Swan Sonnenschein & Co., London, 1886, pp. 315-
469; Mackenzie’s 10th century (Nelson & Sons, 1828), pp. 181-206 809-315, 338, 372-73, 429-
432; Price’s Political Economy in England (Methuen & Co., London, 1900), pp. 5-7 ; Merz's
History of European Thought in the 10th century in two Volumes (Blackwood and Sons.
London, 1904) ; Marshall’s Principles of Economics
n
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Dr. P. C. Ray concludes his celebrated History of Hindu Chemistry
thus :
" The arts being thus relegated to the low castes and the professions
made hereditary, a certain degree of fineness, delicacy and deftness in manipula¬
tion was no doubt secured, but this was done at a terrible cost. The intellectual
portion of the community being thus withdrawn from active participation
in the art, the how and why of phenomena—the co-ordination of cause and
effect—were lost sight of. The spirit of inquiry gradually died out among a
nation naturally prone to speculation and metaphysical subtleties , l and India for
once bade adieu to experimental and inductive sciences. Among a people ridden
by caste and hide-bound by the authorities and injunctions of the Vedas, the
Pur&gas and Smritis, and having their intellect thus cramped and'paralysed,
no Boyle could arise. Her soil was rendered morally unfit for the birth of
a Boyle, a Descartes or Newton, and her very name was all but expunged from
the map of the Scientific World."
Far be it from our object to detract from the absolute contributions of
these western thinkers to the World of Science. It must not be forgotten,
however, that the greatest duty the Hindu thinkers were called upon to perform
during the period of the so-called torpor and decline of Hindu intellect was
the preservation of national existence and the conservation (with necessary
adaptation or modification) of the culture of their race against the inroads
of aggressive Islam. The greatest achievement of the Hindus and the most
marvellous feat of their genius consisted in this that, while other races had
to succumb to the steam-roller of 1 the Koran, the sword or the tribute'and
extinguish all vestiges of their national traditions and institutions, the Hindus
alone not only succeeded in withstanding this levelling influence and main¬
taining their individuality and original race-consciousness, but also in assimi¬
lating and utilising the new world-forces in the interest of their own expansion,
development and progress.
But for this assimilative capacity, this extraordinary power of displaying
and distributing their energies in a latent form in the work of social re-cons-
truction and synthetic re-adjustments, the whole civilisation of the Hindus
would have been swept off the face of the earth and have been driven under¬
ground. And instead of a living, moving, growing, and expanding people of
to-day the Hindus would perchance have to be excavated and unearthed anew
like the fossils of Egyptian, Babylonian and Hellenic culture by future arcbaeolo-
1 The italics are ours. It is difficult to appreciate the logic of these remarks. If up to
the middle of the 17th century, t c., for a period of over 2,000 years, as Dr. Ray proves by
his researches, the so-called caste restrictions and religious prejudices did not stand in
the way of scientific work on the part of Hindu scholars and could not prevent them
from being at the vanguard of nations, why should these be held responsible for the
alleged torpor and demoralisation during the 17th and 18th centuries? More facts
require to be unearthed before anything can be proved one way or the other; and a more
‘ scientific ’ interpretatiou of World-!? roes that go to make history is also necessary.
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gists as merely interesting curios, through which could be dimly deciphered the
hieroglyphics of a by-gone age.
The “ Doctrine of Substitution ” applied by modern economists to the
interpretation of the motives and tendencies that underlie human activity in the
choice of Mines of least resistance’ and in the investment of resources along
various channels in such a way as to derive from each the greatest * return * with
the smallest expenditure, is nothing but a sociological equivalent of, or at any
rate, a corollary to, the great Biological Doctrine of the display of vital
energy under diverse forms and in varied directions, under the impulse of
the ‘struggle for existence * and the * instinct’ of self-preservation. The problem
before the Hindus during the period referred to by Dr. Ray was pre-eminently
and essentially one of social self-preservation, stock-taking and assimilation,
re-synthetising of old and new conditions. The struggle was between one
socio-religious ideal and another socio-religious ideal, for the Mussalmans
did not bring with them any other instruments of culture, ostensibly or as
a matter of course. That being the conflict, ‘competition’ and instinct of
self-preservation induced the people of Hmdusthan to present not greater
and greater original discoveries and inventions in science, industry and
philosophy, and an extension of the bounds of human knowledge—[because
what they had inherited from their ancestors and developed up till then was
already too adequate for what their opponents could possibly display from
their armouries and arsenals of cultural equipment, or for what the whole
encyclopaedia of the Saracenic, Graeko-Roman and Teutonic-European learning
could exhibitj, but mainly a more liberal and elastic interpretation of their
socio-religious ideals and institutions, a more philosophic re-laying of the
foundations of their social and domestic system, necessitated by the changes in
the circumstances of their age.
A really scientific reading of the conditions of life produced in India
by the advent of Islam would show, not that the Hindu national mind was
totally slain during this period, but that it addressed itself to the more pressing
needs of the time; not that the Hindu* intellect became ‘ unscientific,’ uncri¬
tical, totally abstruse and metaphysical, but that it was solving the most
practical and secular problems of the age ; not that the Hindu race produced
only second-rate, third-rate and eighth-rate intellectuals, only commentators,
annotators and copyists, but that it gave rise to some of the most original¬
brained, synthetic philosophers, scientists and sociologists, who were the
Newtons, Leibnitzes and Descarteses of the Hindu national life in re-organising
the old and thereby creating the new.
Universal History, if philosophically and biologically interpreted, yields
only one fundamental lesson about human progress, viz. f that the culture of a
race is ‘ relative ’ to the conditions of the age. According to this doctrine of the
Relativity of Culture, which again is really a corollary to the great Biologico-
sociological Doctrine enunciated above, it would be easily admitted that the
epoch from Bacon to Linnaeus, Humboldt, Whitney and Herbert Spencer has
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dot probably done for humanity an total of work in any way nobler or greater
than what has been achieved in Hindusthan by the band of master-minds from
Kavlra, Chaitanya, TukdrAma, Ndnaka, and other givers of social laws and
morals to the days of RamaprasAda, Rdmaraohana, Vidyasagara and R&makrisga
Paramahamsa.
There is another side of the self-humiliation contained in the assertion of
Dr. Ray. He does not seem to have looked upon the achievements of modern
Europe with a historic and critical eye, and hence the statement is necessarily
partial, one-sided and erroneous.
Even supposing that, about say the middle of the 17th century—the age of
Newton—Europe began its career of conquest over the powers of nature and
marvelleous achievements in physical or secular sciences and industries, we
cannot too often remember
(1) that all these achievements were not altogether of a higher order or
greater brilliancy than what the Hindus had achieved and maintained even up
to the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century, so far as ministration
to the 4 necessaries, comforts, and decencies ’ of life is concerned ;
(2) that it is only since the epoch of “ Industrial Revolution,” i.e. t the
second decade of the 19th century, that the west has really been distancing
and eclipsing the people of India in the marvels of theoretical science as well
as practical arts;
(3) so that, strictly speaking, the modern spirit, the thought that Europe
has actually contributed to the culture of universal humanity, is not more than
a century old.
That those sciences and industries, which have marked a complete cleavage
between the past and the present, for not having contributed to the making of
which the Hindus are fallaciously and unnecessarily condemned as non-practical,
un-secular, other-worldy, are only the achievements of yesterday, does not require
any laborious historical investigation to be substantiated. In the 13th Edition
(revised and partly re-written with additions) of Discoveries and Inventions 1 by
Routledge, the author says : 11 The enormous material advantage which this age
possesses, the cheapness of production * * * are traceable to the division of
labour; to the steam-engine; to increased knowledge of the properties of metals ;
to the use of power tools * * * Little more than a century ago everything was
slowly but imperfectly made by the tedious toil of the working man’s hand. * * *
Let the young reader who wishes to understand why the present epoch is worthy
of admiration as a stage in the progress of mankind, address himself to some
intelligent person old enough to remember the century in its teens; let him
inquire what wonderful changes in the aspect of things have been comprised
within the experience of a single life-time.”
It would thus be clear that it is only “a single life-time’s work,” taking
a very narrow and practical and rather non-scientific and unhistorical view,
1 Published by George Routledge and Sons, London, 1900.
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by which modern Europe is in advance of mediaeval Europe, or what is the
same thing, by which India is behind the western world. A rational interpreta¬
tion of history would thus be a powerful corrective of the cheap and superficial
interpretation of India’s past which is inclined to explain one and all of the so-
called failures of the Hindus by two catch-words describing their national life
and character, vie., caste and religiosity.
Dr. Ray's History of Hindu Chemistry is itself one such corrective. Ram
Raz’s fragmentary Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus , published in the
earlier years of the 19th century is perhaps the first work on the subject of
Hindu achievements of a secular character. The works of Rajendralfil and
LJdaych&nd also belong to the same category. Another eye-opener, in our own
times, is Prof. Mookerji’s History of Indian Shipping . And that monumental
product of Dr. Seal’s massive intellect, the Mechanical, Chemical, and Physical
Theories of the Hindus, is also most emphatically calculated to give the lie to the
alleged inferiority of the Hindu race in secular 1 and scientific achievements.
Section 3.
The Zoological Lore of the Hindus .
The remarks in section 1 indicate, in the first place, the position of Natural
History and Science in such sociological treatises as Niti Sds/ras, and in the
second place, at once the achievements and limitations of the Hindus in investi¬
gations regarding the facts and phenomena of the physical world. The
Zoological Data in the Sukraniti also point to the same conclusions.
(a) A brief survey oj Zoology in Europe .
Like metals, jewels and plants, animals and animal-life also have been
the subjects of copious literature in India. For, since the earliest times, Indian
Fauna have played an important part in the socio-economic and socio-religious
as well as political spheres of Hindu life.
1 Recently, Mr. K. P. Jayaswal, in reviewing Dr. Scholl's Periplusoj the Krytlmiean
tiea for the Modern Review, lias entered another protest thus 2—
“ Mr. Sclioff has quoted at p. 187 the oft-quoted lines of Matthew Arnold that India
let the legions thunder past and she plunged in thought again. The lines have really con¬
verted history into a vast ‘ Mississippi of falsehood.’ They ought not to find room in any
serious treatise. Hindu history at every step gives a fie to the allegation. The very fact
of the Greek invasion, on which Mr. Sclioff has quoted the lines, instead of being forgotten,
was remembered as late as the 5th century A. C„ when the defeat of Seleucus was repeated
011 the stage at Pfitaliputra, The poet wanted the history of Chandragupta, the Mauryft,
to be re-enacted by Chandragupta the Gupta. Mr. Schoff must be aware of the inscriptions
of the so-called Andhras and the Guptas which proudly celebrate conquests over ‘ the
legions.’ Medhfititlii, writing after the defeat of the Huns, defined India as a country
where ‘ the legions ’ could not get a footing even after repeated attempts. The victory of
S&takarni II over Nahapaua is still remembered by hundreds of millions of Hindus who hear
and repeat the historical romance of the Vikramaditya, the Destroyer of the Sakas.”
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Up to the 18th century the progress of Zoology in India is almost
parallel with the course it has had in Europe during the 11 legendary ” stage
and the 11 age of collectors and travellers.” Indian literature, if minutely
studied in the light of modern theories, would furnish some of the earlier
among the following landmarks in the history of Zoology obtained from the
records of European research :
11 Anatomy and the *tudy of animal mechanism, animal physics and
animal chemistry, all of which form part of a true Zoology, were excluded
from the usual definition of the word; * * * and, whilst the Zoologist was thus
deprived of the means of anatomical and physiological study, * * * the demands
of medicine for a knowledge of the structure of the human animal brought into
existence a separate and special study of human anatomy and physiology.
%t From these special studies of human structure the knowledge of the
anatomy of animals has proceeded. * * * Thus comparative anatomy came
into existence as a branch of inquiry apart from Zoology; and it was only
in the latter part of the 19th century that the word 1 Zoology,* applied to a
knowledge of animals which expressly excludes the consideration of their
internal structure, was rejected.
11 Scientific Zoology really started in the 16th century with the awaken¬
ing of the new spirit of observation and exploration. • • • The active search
for knowledge by means of observation and experiment found its natural home
in the universities. Owing to the connexion of medicine with these seats
of learning it was natural that the study of the structure and functions of
the human body and of the animals nearest to men should take root there. * * *
The influence of the great academies of the 17th century was precisely to
effect that bringing together of the museum-men and the physicians or anato¬
mists which was needed for further development. 0 * 0 It was not until the
19th century that the Microscope (constructed by a Dutch naturalist in 1683)
was perfected as an instrument and accomplished for Zoology its final and
most important service. 000 It was reserved for Charles Darwin in 1859 to
place the whole theory of organic evolution on a new footing.” 1
The brief and not by any means exhaustive survey of Hindu Zoological
literature that is given here to indicate lines of research in this field would
suggest that, with the exception of Plasmology or 11 the study of the ultimate
corpuscles of living matter, their structure, development and properties, by
the aid of the microscope —exemplified by Malphighi, Hook, Schwann and
Kowalewsky,” almost all the other “currents of thought and mental preoccupa¬
tion which have been historically manifested in western Europe in the gra¬
dual evolution of what is to-day the great river of Zoological doctrine” have
had their more or less perfect embodiments in the history of Hindu thought
also. Thus, it will be easy to cull from Indian literature, Sanskrit, Prakrit
and vernacular, casual references to, as well as specialised treatises on, ani-
1 Encyclopedia britannica (t 1th Edition), Vol. 28, pp. 1022-1024.
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mal-life, which may be grouped under the following branches of Zoological
study detailed by Sir Edwin Ray Lankester in the latest edition of the Ency -
clopatdia Britannica :
(1) Morphography—the work of the collector and systematist exempli¬
fied by l^innaeus and his predecessors, by Cuvier, Agassiz, HseCkel.
(2) Bionomics, lore of the farmer, gardener, sportsman, and field-natural¬
ist, including thremmatology or the science of breeding, and the allied teleology
or science of organic adaptations : exemplified by the patriarch Jacob, the poet
Virgil, Sprengel, Kirby and Spence, Wallace and Daruyn.
(3) Zoo-dynamics, Zoo-physics, Zoo-chemistry—the pursuit of the
learned physician,—anatomy and physiology : exemplified by Harvey, Haller,
Hunter, Johann Muller.
(4) Philosophical Zoology—general conceptions with regard to the rela¬
tions of living things (especially animals), to the Universe, to man, and to the
Creator, their origin and significance: exemplified in the writings of the philo¬
sophers of classical antiquity, and of Linnaeus, Goethe, Lamarck, Cuvier, Lyell,
H. Spencer, and Darwin.
(b) Vedic Fauna.
The Zoological lore of the Vedic age is not very copious, but gives an
adequate picture of the attempts of the people to make themselves acquainted
with the various phases of animal-life which came across them.
41 The ploughmen sang merrily to the steers (R. V. viii, 20, 19), while
ploughing. * * * They kept away birds from robbing them of the
growing corn by utteriDg loud cries (R. V. x 68, 1). 0 0 * The enemies
of the agriculturist were rodents, insects and demons which were exorcised
by means of spells (A. V. vi 50). A great number of them are named,
but cannot be identified. 0 0 0 Cattle-rearing followed as subsidiary
to agriculture. Cowherds took cows out to pasture daily (R. V. x 19, 4, 5).
0 * On return from pasture the cows were kept in stalls ( gotra ,
R. V, ii; 23, 8, vraja A. V. iii *,115, gostha iv ; 21, 1), and water troughs were
provided for them in various places. * * Draught-oxen were castrated.
* * * They reared also goat and sheep. Fat rams for cooking (R. V.
x 27, 17) and the ewes of Gandhara, famous for their wool (R. V. i 126, 7),
are referred to. Dogs guarded cattle and houses and barked at human thieves
(R, V. vii 55, 3), at wolves worrying sheep (A.V. V, 8 4; vi 37), and tigers which
plague the men rich in kine (A. V. iv 36, 6). 1
The animal foes of man were roaring lions (R. V. ix 64, 8), wild elephants
4 eating forests ' (R. V. i 64, 7), tigers, wolves and hyenas (A.V. xii 1, 49) as
well as snakes,* metaphorically called 44 ropes with teeth ” (A. V. iv, 3, 2), 4 bran-
dishihg as it were a club * (A. V. i 27, 2); more than twelve species of snakes
1 Iyengar's Life in Ancient India, pp. 28-27,
2 See also Atharva Veda, x 4.
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are named in the Atharva Veda Sarahita as creeping amidst grasses of which
five species are named in R. V. i 191, 3. There was also the sharply-stinging
scorpion (A. V. xii, 1 46 ; vii, 56, 6, 8); worms of various kinds born in the rainy
season (A. V. xii 1, 46) and the sharply-biting mosquito (A. V- vii 56, 3) are
also mentioned. 1
The following extracts are taken from the Atharva Veda:*
** Together, together let cattle flow (stream), together horses and together
men, together the fatness that is of grain; I offer with an oblation of con¬
fluence.” * This is meant for safety and increase of kine,
44 The eagle discovered thee; the swine dug thee with his snout: smite
the dispute, &c.” 4 The object discovered by these animals is the root of a
plant that is meant for victory in disputation which, for example, “ Indra put
on his arm in order to lay low the Asuras.”
“ Let the falcon lead hither from far the one to be called, living exiled in
other’s territory.” • The falcon is thus a guide of the King to be restored.
u He who gives a white-footed sheep 6 commensurate with his world, he
ascends unto the firmament, where a tax is not paid by a weak man for a
stronger.” By this offering of a white-footed sheep one is released from the
payment otherwise due to Yama’s councillors on admission into the other
world. [Commensurate—(1) proportioned in value to the place in the heavenly
world that is sought by the giver, (2) analogous with the world of light that is
aspired to.]
M Both thy (two) eyes and thy mouth, O tiger/ we grind up; then all
thy twenty claws. * * * Ruined are the teeth of the beast; crushed in
also are its ribs.” T his hymn is against wild beasts and thieves.
“ The draft-ox* sustains earth and sky ; the draft-ox sustains the wide
atmosphere; the draft-ox sustains the six wide directions ; the draft-ox hath
entered into all existence. * * * With his feet treading down debility, with
his thighs extracting refreshing drink—with weariness go the draft-ox and the
plowman unto sweet drink.”
The hymn offers an example of that characteristic Hindu extollation,
without any measure or limit, of the immediate object of reverence, which, when
applied to a divinity, has led to the setting up of the baseless doctrine of
henotheism.
1 Iyengar’s Life in Aiic. I ml., p. 00.
• Harvard Oriental Series.
• Yol. 7, p. 66,
4 Yol. 7, p. 67.
‘ Yol. 7, p. 88.
• Vol. 7, p. 180. See also the verses accompanying the gift of a hull, and the
offering of a goat (Atharva ix 4,5).
’ Yol. 7, pp. 148-0.
• Yol. 7, pp. 164-166. For the extollation of the cow, see Atharva Yeda x 10; and
of the ox again, ix 7.
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“ With milk, with ghee, I anoint the goat, 1 the heavenly eagle, milky great;
by it may we go to the world of the well-done, ascending the heaven, unto the
highest firmament. * * * In the eastern quarter set then the head of the
goat; in the southern quarter sethis right-side. In the western quarter set
his rum; in the northern quarter set his other side; in the upward quarter
set the goat’s backbone ; in the fixed quarter set his belly; midway in the atmos¬
phere his middle. Do thou envelop with cooked skin the cooked goat, brought
together with all his limbs, all-formed.” The verses read as if the goat himself,
after cooking whole, were set up in position, the head to the east.
11 1 have gone about the race of snakes,* as the Sun about the sky, as night
about living creatures other than the swan ; thereby do I ward off thy poison.”
The birds of ill omen* against which incantations are used in the Atharva
Veda are such 14 winged missiles 99 as the dove, the hawk, the owl. Fpr the
success of the horse in a race, we have the following verse: 44 The quickness,
O courser, 4 that is put in thee secret, also that went about committed to the
hawk, to the wind—with that strength do thou, O steed, being strong, win the
race rescuing in the conflict.” We have the terms dog* and falcon* applied
metaphorically to the orbs of the celestial sphere also.
According to Mr. Bal Gangftdhara Tilak, “of the various figures we may
make out of the star in the constellation of Orion, one should be of an antelope's
head.” 1
In the chapter on a picnic in Ancient India, Dr. R&jendral&l Mitra* refers
to the buffalo-meat and game bird3 as piece de resistance : " In the time of
the Rig Veda the meat was cooked with milk, and there is a passage in which
Vispu is described as carrying away the broth made of a hundred buffaloes
and a hog (VIII 66, 10). Elsewhere it is said (VI 17,11): ‘For thee, Indra,
whom all the Maruts, in concert, magnified Pushana and Visgu cooked a
hundred buffaloes.' * * * In the Grihya Sutra of Aswaldyana, partridges
(tittiri) are recommended as appropriate for infants just beginning to take
solid food, and ducks, doves, pigeons, and ortolans were formerly in common
use.”
(c) Maury a Fauna.
Mr. Manomohan Chakravarti has studied the rock-edicts and pillar-edicts
of Piyadasi, 0 with special reference to the animal-lore contained therein.
* Vol. 7, pp. 169-72. ~~~
* Vol. 7, p. 289.
* Book VI, xxvii—xxix.
4 Atharva Veda, VI, 92. See also XIX. 26. “ Be thou an up-carrier uphill."
* Ibid , VII, 80.
* Ibid t VII, 41.
’ The Orion (Bombay, 1898), p. 101,
* Indo-Aryans Vol. I, pp 4, 27-28. See also Beef in Ancient India, pp. 854-882.
* See Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 1,1906-1907, pp. 861-874. See
also Law's Studies in Hindu Polity and the Artha 8Astra of Eautilya, for the names of tho
fount very familiar in Maurya times (4th—8rd cent. B. 0.).
28
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Megasthenes’ account of 14 gold-digging ants 99 in India has been already
referred to. His Fragments supplies us with more solid information about
Indian Fauna.
The use of horses and elephants for the army has been described
by Megasthenes also. We know of this from Strabo (XV i 50-52) and .£lian
(His. Animal XVI-10).
The training of horses has been likewise referred to in the Fragments of
Megasthenes.
The information about elephants is copious in the Fragments . We learn
from it of the methods of capture, training, medical treatment, &c. (Arrian,
XIII, XIV; jElian XII-44. XIII—71).
Some of the wild Fauna of the 4th century B. C. are to be known from
Strabo’s account (XV i 47) as well as that of ADlian, Pliny, &c., derived from
the Fragments.
The generic names of the Inscriptional Fauna are: (i) Jiv&ni, (ii) Prana-
sata-sahasrfiqi, (iii) BhOtanam (iv) Jatani, (v) Pasu-cikiccha.
The following classes of animals are mentioned in the Rock-Edicts:
(i) Dupada-catupadesu pakhi-valicalesu, (ii) Catupade, (iii) Macche.
By Edict No. I Asoka, the benevolent Caesaro-papist of India, forbade
the general destruction of life both in his own kitchen and in his empire. Two
animals are specified : (1) Peacock (mora, majura, majuia), (2) Deer (mago, mrugo,
mige).
By the Edict No. V the slaughter of the following born beings was pro¬
hibited :
(1) Parrot (suku).
(2) Starling (salika).
(3) Alune (unidentified).
(4) Ruddy goose (cakavake).
(5) Goose (hamse).
(6) Nandi mukhe (unidentified).
(7) Gelate (unidentified).
( 8 ) The bat (jatuka).
(9) White ant (amba papilika).
(10) Female tortoise (dadi).
(t 1) Boneless fish (anafhika macche).
(12) Veda veyake (unidentified).
(13) Gamgapuputake (unidentified).
(14) Skate fish (samkuja macche).
(15) Tortoise porcupine (kapha^a sayake).
(16) Squirrel (pannasase).
(17) Si male (Sansk. Srimara)
(18) Bull (samdake).
(19) Okapinde (godhas?)
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(ao) Rhinoceros (alasate).
(ai) Pigeon (seta kapote).
(aa) Goat (ajake).
(a3) Sheep (edake).
(*4) Pig (sukali).
(35) Fowl (vadhikukute).
(36) Elephant (ndga-vanasi).
(37) Cow (gone).
(28) Horse (aswasd lakhane).
(d) The Fauna in Hindu Folk-lore .
The intimate familiarity of the people of Hindusthan with the topics
generally treated in Descriptive Zoology or Natural History is also borne
out by the existence of innumerable legends, both secular and religious,
with animals playing a prominent part as dramatis personae t and as narrators,
or forming the subject matter, which entered into the curriculum of studies in
ancient and mediaeval India. We have already noticed the indebtedness of
Europe to India in this branch of literature in connection with the legends of
precious stones and metals.
The following extracts from Fausboll’s Indian Mythology give a short
account of such stories: u India has long been looked upon as the cradle
of fairy tales and legends , and such is indeed the case, for beside numbers
of short folk-stories, such as Vetdla-panchavimsati (25 Tales by a ghost),
Sukasaptati (70 Tales by a parrot), Simhdsana-dw&trimsati (3a Tales by Images
on VikramAditya’s Throne), and, beside those found spread throughout the
Mahabh&rata and RAmAyana and in fact in all Indian literature, we have
the following important collection of fables, fairy stories and tales s (1) The
Jataka books concerning the Transmigration of soul from about 477 B.C.,
(2) the Panchatantra- book in 5 chapters by Visnu Sarma from about 530 A. D.,
(3) Hitopadesd, 1 the Benefical Instruction by NArayaga, (4) Kathdsaritsdgara,
the Lake of the Legend streams by Somadeva from about 1063, (5) Ksemendra’s
Avaddna kalpalata , (6) Kathdkosa , a Treasury of Tales.
11 To these must be added from more modern times; (1) Frere: Old
Deccan Days } or Hindu Fairy Legends; (2) Stokes: Indian Fairy Tales ;
(3) Lai Behari De : Folk-Tales 0f Bengal ; (4) Steel and Temple: Wide
Awake Stories , Bombay ; (5) Temple: The Legends of the Punjab ; (6) Knowles :
Folk Tales oj Kashmir ; (7) Swynnerton: Indian Nights' Entertainment , or
Folk Tales from the upper Indus ; and from the latest date many stories
communicated in the periodical: Indian Antiquary.”
To this second list we have to add at least one which has been appreciat¬
ed by literary connoisseurs as rivalling the merits of the Arabian Nights,
This is the Folk Tales of Hindusthan by Shaikh Chilli* (Pagini Office.)
1 See the discussion of date and authorship in Pete-son’s Preface to Hitopadesa
in Bombay Sanskrit Series No. XXXIII.
* Norn de plume of Sris Chandra Vasa* the versatile Sanskrit scholar and Hindu
philosopher.
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The Hitopadekaf which draws considerably upon Buddhist Jdtakas and
Panchatantra, consists of 42 fables in four chapters, and of these 31 deal with
animals. The table of contents in this book of stories gives the following
topics of animal lore
Chapter I.
The acquisition of friends .
Fable I.—The story of the Crow, the Tortoise, the Deer, and the Mouse ; Story
of the Pigeons.
II.—-The Old Traveller and the Tiger.
III. —The Deer, the Jackal, and the Crow.
IV. —The Blind Vulture, the Cat and the Birds.
V. —History of the Mouse Hirarjyaka.
VI.—The Huntsman, the Deer, the Boar, the Serpent, and the Jackal.
VII.—The Jackal and the Elephant.
Chapter II.
The separation of friends.
Fable I.—The Story of the Bull, the two Jackals, and the Lion.
II.—The Ape and the Wedge.
III. —The Thief, the Ass, and the Dog.
IV. —The Lion, the Mouse and the Cat.
V. —The Crow, the Golden Chain, and the Black Serpent.
VI.—The Lion and the Rabbit.
VII.—The Lapwing and the Sea.
Chapter III.
War.
Fable I.—The Story of the Geese and the Peacocks.
II.—The Birds and the Monkeys.
III. —The Ass in a Tiger’s Skin.
IV. —The Elephants and the Rabbits.
V.—The Goose and the Crow.
VI.—The Quail and the Crow.
VII.—The Blue Jackal.
Chapter IV.
Peace .
Fable I.—Continuation of the Story of the Geese and the Peacocks.
II.—The Turtle and the two Geese.
III. —The three Fishes.
IV. —The Cranes and the Weasel.
V. —The Mouse and the Hermit.
1 Translation by Francis Johnson (Allen Sc Co., London, 184$). For a comparative
study of J4 takas, Panchatantra and Hitopadesa, see Peterson's Edition of Hitopadesa,
Bombay 8a*9krit Series, XXXIII (1887).
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VI.—The Crane and the Crab.
VII.—The Brahmana and his Goat.
VIII.—The Camel, the Crow, the Tiger, and the Jackal.
IX. —The Old Serpent and the Frogs
X. —The Brahmana and his Weasel.
The stories in the Jatakas, Panchatantra, Hitopadesa, and other works
introduce us, on the one hand, to the actual manners and morals, political and
social ideals and institutions, as well as intellectual condition and educational
system of the people of Hindusthan, in ancient and mediaeval times. On the
other hand, they furnish living proofs of the minute Nature-studies in general,
and the sympathetic observation of Zoological phenomena in particular) under¬
taken by the scholars, litterateurs and educators of those days.
The importance of these stories in world’s literary history is thus des¬
cribed by Charles Wilkins in the preface to his “Fables and Proverbs from the
Sanskrit” (1787), quoted by Peter Peterson in the Bombay Sanskrit Series,
XXXIII:-
11 * * * Thesd celebrated fables, which, after passing through most of the
oriental languages, ancient and modern, with various alterations to accommodate
them to the taste and genius of those for whose benefit or amusement they
were designed, and under different appellations, at length were introduced
to the knowledge of the European world, with a title importing them to have
been originally written by Pilpay, or Bidpai, an ancient Brahman. Sir William
Jones * * in an elegant discourse delivered by him on the 26th February, 1786,
* * expresses his sentiments upon this subject in the following words
‘Their Nitisftstra or system of Fthics, is yet preserved and the fables of
Vishnu Sarma, whom we ridiculously call Pilpay, are the most beautiful,
if not the most ancient, collection of apologues in the world. They were first
translated from the Sanskrit (into Persian) in the sixth century by the chief
physician and afterwards the Vizier of the great Naushirwan and are extant
under various names' in more than twenty languages.”
(e) The Sacred Fauna .
The consecration of animals to gods and goddesses as well as the deifica¬
tion of Fauna are two important features of Hindu religious system. These
have left their mark on the literature, sculpture and architecture of ancient and
mediaeval India, and point to the copiousness as well as popularity of Zoological
lore among the Hindus.
Like the stones such as S&lagrdma, and plants such as Tulst, Marmelos
aegle, Ficus religiosa, Jonesia asoka, Acacia suma, Calotropis gigantea, &c.,
the animals famous in Hindu religious history and art are many.
1 The whole subject has been treated in Max Mailer’s Essay on the Migration of Fables.
It has to be noted that both Wilkins and Jones were mistaken in considering Hitopadeea
to be the original work translated into Persian in the 6th century, while in reality the
source-book that has been a literary link between the East and the West for centuries is
Panchatantra.
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Of all animals the cow is the most sacred. It typifies the all-yielding earth.
All agricultural labour depends on the ox, for no such animal as the cart-horse
exists in India. There is a typical * cow of plenty/ Kdmadhenu , supposed to
yield all desired objects, images of which are commonly sold in the bazaars,
and bought as objects of reverence; and the letting loose of a bull (Bri$otsarga)
—properly stamped with the symbol of Siva—in sacred cities like Benares and
Gaya, that it may be tended and reverenced by pious persons, is a highly
meritorious act.
Serpents, also, are divine animals; they £re emblemical of eternity, and
are often associated with the gods, especially Siva. Moreover, a curious
race of serpents, half human, half divine, called NAgas, is supposed to exist in
regions under the earth. They are ruled over by three principal serpents
named Sesa, VAsuki, and Taksaka.
Monkeys, a whole army of which aided Rama in his conquest of Ceylon,
are of course amongst the most sacred of animals. They are inviolable and
never under any circumstances to be molested. 1
The insignificant tiny creature, squirrel, whose labours of love in the
construction of the famous bridge are believed to have been appreciated by
Rama himself, also, belongs to the same category.
In his work on Indian Mythology* according to the Mahabharata, Mr.
Fausboll gives the following account of the nAgas or serpents. “ They dwell in
the bowels of the earth in NAgaloka, which is endless, aparyanta, crowded with
hundreds of different kinds of palaces, houses, towers and pinnacles, and
strewn with wonderful large and small pleasure-grounds. The serpent world
is likewise called Patala. They also live in caves, in inaccessible mountainous
regions, and are even said to be found in the valleys, in Kuruksetra, on the
banks of the river Iksumati, in the Naimisa forest on the shores of the Gomati,
in numbers on the northern banks of the Ganga and in the Nisadha (mountain
districts). * * * They are possessed of great strength, have a big body, are
frightful, very quick, very violent. They are provided with tusks full of poison.
They are handsome, take many shapes and wear showy ear-rings. * * * Some
have 3, others 7, and others again 10 heads, etc.”
Hamsas or ganders are the animals sacred to the four-faced god Brahma,*
whose floral emblem is a lotus ; for ** his chariot, vimAna, which is as quick as
thought, is harnessed with hamsas.”
The brother of Arupa, the Sun-god’s charioteer, is Garutja (the king of
birds), called also Suparija, because of his handsome feathers. The story of
his birth is narrated in the Mahabharata (I, 1073). He has serpents for food,
and is the sign or standard of the god Visgu. From him are descended all
serpent-eating birds 4 who worship Vi§iju as their great protector. The
1 Hinduism (1877), by Prof. Monier Williams, pp. 180-170.
* London : Luzac Sc Co., 1903.
* Fausboll’s Indian Mythology (Luzac), p. 74.
4 Fausboll’s Indian Mythology, pp. 77-80.
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serpent called Sesa or Ananta is also sacred to Vispu, for it is his couch or
bed on which Visgu rests in Yoga sleep.
The animals famous in the Indra-cult are the elephant, the horse and
the cow. Indra’s beautiful and always victorious elephant, who stands at
the entrance to Swarga, is called Airdvata and has four tusks. His horse
Uchchaisravas came forth under the churning of the ocean, and is white with
a black tail. His chariot is drawn by 10,000 reddish-yellow horses. Nandini 1
or KAmadughA is Indra’s 4 wishing cow/ who grants all wishes and is the
daughter of Daksa PrajApati.
The VarAha or boar is the animal in whose form the god Vi$nu had to
embody himself in order to save the earth from the waters of a deluge which
had completely enveloped it. The story of this avatAra or incarnation is thus
given in the MahAbhArata ( 111 , 15826):”^ thought of the shape of a boar,
which animal loves to play in the water. And when he had given himself a
boar's body that could speak and which agreed with the traditions of the Vedas,
ten yojanas broad and a hundred yojanas long, resembling a great mountain
in shape, shining with sharp tusks, thundering like a mass of clouds, and
resembling a dark cloud, then the Lord descended like an offering-boar into
the water, drew the earth up with one of his tusks and set it back in its place.’ ,
Among the ten incarnations of Vispu adopted by Him on the occasions
of cataclysms three are animal forms, eg. t those of the malsya or mina or Fish,
kurtna or Tortoise and vardha or Boar; and a fourth is half-animal, half¬
human, e.g., man-lion or Narasimha. The 11 horse’s head-incarnation called the
aswasiras avatar a is mentioned in the MahAbhArata only (XII, 13478) and does
not belong to the traditional list of 10 known to the latter-day Hindus. Again,
according to the MahabhArata* 41 the Matsya-incarnation is referred to BrahmA,
and the Kurma-incarnation has no connection with Visnu.”
In any case, there is no doubt that in Hindu mythology the Fauna are
important enough to have contributed at least three of the ten important
forms for the embodiment of the Divinity in times of sore distress for mankind
and creation. We have to notice, further, that Yama, the Death-god, has
two four-eyed dogs, that Siva is clothed in tiger-skins, and has, for his
conveyance, a white bull with a huge body, thick neck, broad shoulders,
that the goddess DurgA stands on the lion as vAhana or bearer and overpowers
the mahisa or buffalo, that the alligator is sacred to the goddess GangA,
the tortoise to YamunA, that the six-faced war-god KArtika rides on a peacock,
that the god of success, Gai?e6a, has the mouse for his embem, and the owl is
sacred to Lakfmi, the goddess of fortune.
Among the Vedic deities, also, we find the same recruitment of conveyances
or emblems or signs from the animal world. Thus Pushan 9 is the <( herdsman
who drives the cattle with an ox-goad and rides on a goat.”
1 ibid, p. 82-90. The story of Nandini has been popularised in the first two cantos of
the immortal Rughuvamsam of Kalid&sa.
* Fausboll’s Indian Mythology, pp. 120-122.
* Oppert’s Original Inhabitant$ of India (Constable & Co., Westminster, 1898), p. 278.
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(/) The Fauna in Hindu Art.
Indian art also bears impress of the animal lore of the Hindus. This is
natural, since the fauna, being important elements in Hindu religion, cannot but
influence the art and literature that have always been associated with it. Ar¬
chitecture, sculpture and painting have in all ages and climes been hand-maids
to mythology. The history of Hindu art is no exception to this. Furthermore,
we have to notice that art and literature have had their careers independent of
religion also, both in the East and West, embodying the thousand and one
feelings, sentiments, ideals, aspirations, &c., of a non-religious or secular order. 1
Indian Fauna and animal-lore have left their deep marks on both the religious
and secular branches of Indian art; and this is another testimony to the
Hindus having cultivated their powers of observation with reference to Natural
History.
We have seen that mammals, aves, pisces, and reptiles of the Vertebrate
Kingdom have all contributed to the mythology of the Hindus. * As might
be expected from the tendency of the Hindu mind to give concrete shape to all
transcendental or spiritual ideas and embody every sentiment in images, all
these phyla of the animal world have their specimens in the religious sculpture
or plastic art as well as painting of Hindusthan. The animal vfthanas or
vehicles and symbols of the gods and goddesses have ever been the handi¬
works of painters and sculptors, 1 along with their lords, in stone or bronze or
other materials as the case may be.
Architecture also testifies to the prevalence of animal motif in Hindu
art. In his essay on the architecture of the Hindus* Mr. Ram Raz, Judge
and Magistrate of Bangalore, says: “ In the existing treatises on Hindu
Architecture, no mention is made of anything like a substitution of human
figures for columns to support the entablature, but the shaft is directed to be
adorned with the figures of demons and animals ; yet various examples are to be
met with in which human figures, as well as representations of animals, are
employed in bold relief in the sides of pillars in temples and porticoes, but
by no means like those found in Egyptian architecture. The antiquity of this
invention in India is not determined.
The following are the remarks of Dr. Mitra on the representation of
animal figures in Orissan Sculpture : “ The Uriyas did not prove unequal to the
task. They made considerable progress in it, and displayed much tact and
1 Mr. Vincent Smith, however, commences his monumental work on the history of
Indian art with the hypothesis that “ Indian art is the slave of religious tradition,”
though the innumerable specimens of sculpture and painting described and illustrated
by him as well as other art-historiaDs and art-critics bring out the secular aspects in no
uncertain light and give the direct lie to the statement.
% gee Fergusson’s History o/ Indian Architecture , Ha veil's Indian Sculpture and
Painting and Indian Architecture , Vincent Smith’s History of Pine Art in India and
Ceylon.
% Published for the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1884.
4 Indo-Aryans, Vol. I, pp. 99-101.
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ingenuity. In my work on Orissa reference has already been made to their life¬
like pictures of monkeys, and the success with which sensuous passions have
been shown in them. The elephant has also been carved and chiselled with great
skill. The horse at the southern gate of the Konftrak porch is remarkably well-
proportioned, and representations of rats, parrots, geese, goslings, deer and
other animals shown in the illustration annexed to my work on Orissa will be
generally acknowledged to be pretty close imitations of nature. A colossal
bull in the enclosure of the Great Tower is also worthy of note as a speci¬
men of well-finished animal carving. The lion among animals is, however,
invariably ill-carved. It has everywhere a conventional, unnatural half-dog
half-wolf look about it.
* It is generally representsd as trampling on an elephant about one-half
to one-sixth of its size, crouching under its foreleg. Looking at groups like
these, and the marked disparity in the size of the two animals, I am disposed
to think that the lion had become extinct in Orissa when the sculptures were
made, and the artists had to depend upon tradition and their imagination to
produce its likeness. This inference receives some support from the fact of
the lions in the Udayagiri bas-reliefs being much better-shaped; and they, it is
to be presumed, were delineated when the animal was common in the country.
* * Winged bulls and lions are unknown in Orissa. 0
Animal-life has been portrayed and perpetuated in and through the
medium of other forms of Hindu art also, e.g., industrial arts, handicrafts, etc.,
that minister to the purposes of commerce or domestic life. Such animal figures
are those to be met with as decorative or ornamental devices on textile and
silken fabrics, carpets, ivory carving, metallic bas-reliefs, earthen, wooden, and
stone vessels, &c. In his paper on the Religious Element in the Arts and Crafts
of India in .the Modern Review for March, 1913, Prof. Radhakamal Mookerji
gives a detailed account of some of these * motives ' : 44 Among birds the
most frequent are the peacock and the paroquet represented in wood-carving
as well as in textiles. In the textiles the .birds are placed usually head and
tail in the vertical bands and in the transverse ones with each alternate bird
looking over its shoulder.” According to Yukti-kalpataru, 44 the prows of ships
admit of a great variety of fanciful shapes or forms: these comprise the heads
of lion, buffalo, serpent, elephant, tiger, birds such as the duck, pea-hen or
parrot, the frog.”
The following extract from Vincent Smith’s 1 History of Fine Art in
India and Ceylon gives a general account of ‘animal motives’ in Hindu
Sculptures and Painting: 44 The Indian treatment of indigenous animals in
both sculpture and painting is as original and artistic as that of plant motives.”
44 You have only,” Sir George Watt writes, 14 to look at the plants and
animals employed in the most ancient designs to feel the strong Indian current
1 Chapter XI, p. 888. See also the illustration
* Colossal horses ’ on p. 195, Blephant colossus on p. 196.
29
of “ antelope frieze ” on p. 192,
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of thought there conventionalised, which must have involved centuries of
evolution. The treatment of the elephant, monkey and serpent is Indian, and
in no way Greek. No Greeks (as few Englishmen to-day) could give the life
touches of those animals seen on all the oldest sculptures and frescoes."
“ These observations are perfectly true, and in all discussions of the
foreign elements in Indian art we must remember that in certain respects
Indian artists were not only free from obligation to the Greeks but actually
superior to them. The illustrations in the work bear abundant testimony to
the Indian power of delineating indigenous living forms, both vegetable and
animal. The Gandhara treatment of the elephant is inferior to ihat of the
same subject by the artists of the interior, who were more familiar with the
wonderful beast, which is not easy to model or draw well."
Mr. Vincent Smith’s monumental work furnishes several pictures of
animal-life in Hindu art. We mention here the tortoise sacred to the goddess
Yamuna. There are two 1 pieces of exquisite workmanship upon this subject
which have been admired by connoisseurs. “ The unsurpassed skill of the
Hindu lapidaries in working the most refractory stones is best exemplified by
the great jade (or ? jadeite) tortoise, found many years ago in the bank of the
Jumna near Allahabad. * 0 * Mr. King observes that * for fidelity to nature
and exquisite finish it is worthy of the ancient Greeks.’ Again, the tortoise in
ivory, produced about 1830 by Gobind Ratan of Nayagarh in Orissa, is describ¬
ed by Sir George Watt as a “ wonderful creation," which raises the artist who
produced it to a position of ** equality with the ivory carvers of Europe, Japan
or China."
The 1 Rider motive ’ * is thus described by Mr. Smith: “ At Amaravati and
in Gandhara a favourite subject is the departure of Gautama Buddha as Prince
Siddhartha from Kapilavastu on horseback. Generally the horse is shown in
profile, but occasionally is represented as emerging from a gateway, and facing
the spectator, fore-shortened.”
Specimens from the earliest Hindu Paintings in which animal-iife has
been perpetuated have been also described and illustrated by Vincent Smith.
The oldest painting found in the Jogimara cave of the Ramgarh Hill in Orissa
belonging probably to 2nd cent. B. C., presents before us elephants, and a
chariot drawn by horses. Among the infinite subjects and decorative designs
in the Ajanta Paintings (5th— 7 th cent. A.D. ?) in which “ fancy is given full
play, simplest objects of nature being pressed into the artists’ service," we find
panels “with animals combined with lotus, drawn with remarkable fidelity and
action, as the elephant, humped bull, and the monkey; parrots, geese, and
conventional birds, singly and in pairs, with foliated crests, and tails convoluted
like heraldic lambrequins, showing the upper and under surface of the
ornament."
1 See the illustrations on pp. 857 and 878 of Smith's Mat. of Fine Art.
* Ibid, p. 882.
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The picture of fighting bulls is one of considerable interest not only as
displaying the artists’ command over the manifestations of life, but also as sup¬
plying a convention and motive in Indian art-history. The following is the
note of Mr. Smith on the one in Ajanta Paintings : 44 Its treatment proves the
artists’ knowledge of animal form and his power of expressing vigorous action*.
The same subject, with variations of detail, is treated in a sculpture at the
ancient cave of Bhdja, dating from about the beginning of the Christian era, and
again in a sixteenth century painting at Akbar’s Capital, Fatehpur Sikri.’’
Three notable paintings have elicited special admiration of Mrs. Herring-
ham : • “They are (i) a hunt of lions and black buck, (2) a hunt of elephants,
(3) an elephant salaaming in a king’s court. These pictures are composed in
a light and shade scheme which can scarcely be paralleled in Italy before the
17th century. The whole posing and grouping is curiously national and
modern, the drawing easy, light and stately, and the painting suggestively laid
in with solid brush strokes —in the flesh, not unlike some examples of modern
French painting. The animals—horses, elephants, dogs and black buck—are
extremely well drawn.”
Two colossal horses at Konflrak in Orissa have called forth the following
remark of Havell which is considered by Vincent Smith* as hyperbolical :
“Here Indian sculptqrs have shown that they can express with as much fire
and passion as the greatest European art the pride of. victory and the glory
of triumphant warfare; for not even the Homeric grandeur of the Elgin marbles
surpasses the magnificence of movement and modelling of the Indian Achilles,
and the superbly monumental horse and its massive strength and vigour are not
unworthy of comparison with Verrochio’s famous master-piece at Venice.”
The “ plunging horse ” 4 in the famous choultry at Madura is of interest as
being both a fine piece of work in bronze and also a miniature reproduction of
a characteristic type of South Indian sculpture in stone.
The fish-motif in Hindu art has been thus described by Havell in Indian
Architecture : * 14 When used to represent the aura in a sculptured or painted
figure of Buddha, the lotus leaf was generally associated with the makara
(alligator ?), a kind of fish dragon, the fish being an emblem of Kama, the God
of Love and of fertility. The fish was also a sign of good luck, for in the Indian
legend of creation it was a fish that saved Manu, the progenitor of the human
race, from the flood. This form of aureole, with the makara and lotus leaf
combined, is still a tradition with Saivite image-makers in Southern India.”
The same writer in his Ideals of Indian Art 8 describes the characteristic
Hindu feeling of reverence and love of nature, both animate and inanimate,
1 See illustration on p. 288.
• Quoted by Vincent Smith, pp. 298-94.
• Hist. Ind. Fine Art, pp. 195-198.
4 Ibid p. 240.
4 P. 82.
• Pp. 107-112.
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as a spontaneous concomitant of the cult of Bhakti or the way of Faith (includ¬
ing Hope and Charity), one of the three traditionally recognised paths to salva¬
tion in Hindu metaphysics. The Hindu conception of the reciprocity of Man
and Nature, the doctrine of the participation of the whole Creation in the joys
and sorrows of man, the philosophy of the incompleteness of the one without
the other, and the idea that Nature is not a mere background to display man in
relief, that even dumb animals have a place in the heaven, are the eternal
tenets inspiring every work of the Hindu—in his mythological creation of the
abodes of the gods, in his literary master-pieces, and in his finest art-products.
Havell illustrates the idea by the story of the faithful dog f in the Mahabh&rata,
without which Yudhisthira refused to enter Paradise and care for his own
salvation, the participation of all Nature—cows, elephants, lowly bush, gay
birds—in the entreaties of the sorrowing citizens of Ayodhya on the occasion
of Rama’s exile, and by the invocation of Stta to the spirit of the lordly peepul
tree (Ficus religiosa) when the edge of the forest was reached, and also by the
compassionate caressing of the faithful horse Kamthaka by Buddha on parting
from the “noblest of steeds.” We may add also the scene described by Kali¬
dasa in canto XIV of Raghuvamsam where Universal Nature—the very deity of
Forests—began to wail with Stta when she was deserted near Valmtki’s forest
and given Rama’s mandate by Laksmapa.
The theory of animal motifs 1 in Hindu art is thus explained by Havell:
“ It is not the ignorance and superstition of the primitive savage, but a firmly-
rooted belief in the doctrine of re-incarnation and in the immanence of God,
which makes the Indian express so reverently and worshipfully his intimate
fellowship with all created things. * * * Gautama himself had passed
through all forms of life, and in the tree, worm or insect, or in the beast
of the field there might still dwell the soul of Buddha that is to come.
* * * In the sculptures of Sanchi and Amaravati he (the artist) shows
the wild elephant coming to pour libations over the sacred tree under which
the Buddha sat, and all the denizens of the forest join with their human fellow-
creatures in adoration of Buddha's footprints, his begging bowl or his relic
shrines.”
The note to plate IV in Dr. Coomaraswamy’s explanatory introduction to
his Selected Examples of Indian Art • deals with a characteristic treatment of
animals in Hindu paintings, and pari passu presents before us a peculiar tenet
of the philosophy of Hindu music. According to the Hindu, modes of music,
like all moral, spiritual, intellectual or physical attributes and qualities of man,
are the “ manifestations and perceptible forms of certain musical beings,” the
‘Geniuses’ called Ragas (male) and Raginls (female).
The tendency of Hindu genius to personify, iconise and tender homage
1 Read in this connexion “ Hindu Ideals—An Appreciation,” being the Inaugural Ad¬
dress delivered by Dr. Brajendranath cal, as King George V Professor of Philosophy in
the University of Calcutta.
* Essex House Press, Normau Chapel, Broad Campden, Gloucestershire, 1010.
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to the creation of religious imagination is manifest in the conception of music,
as of vidyd or learning, laksmt or wealth, sakti or prowess, and so on. The
Rdgint Tori is thus described in an old Rajput book on music, with illustra¬
tions as well as descriptive verses, called Rdga-Mdld , or ‘Garland of R&gas,’
a copy of which belongs to Mr. Gaganendrandth Tagore of Calcutta : 41 Having
a shining snow-white form, white as the kunda flower, scented with Kashmiri
camphor, Tori, embowered in the woods, charmeth the deer with the honeyed
sweetness of her vind’s sound,” 44 The introduction of animals attracted by
music,’* says Coomaraswamy 44 is a motif found also in other Ragipi pictures.
This orphic motif occurs also in the Laild-Majnun pictures, where the animals
come to hear the songs of Majnun, and in Krisqa pictures, where the cows
are represented as rapt by the sound of Krisqa’s flute.**
Referring to the folk-element 1 in Rajput art, ^specially Pahari Drawings,
the same art-historian and art-critic remarks : 44 In the hill drawings, the in¬
fluence of the folk appears directly in the constant emphasis laid on pastoral life,
not merely in set pictures of Krisga as the divine cowherd, but in more naive
sketches which reflect the everyday life and environment of peasants. Fig. i.
inscribed Sri Krista, milkman, affords a good example of this. Another
drawing represents a girl looking up at a crow perched on a roof.”
The animal motifs in Rajput art have been described with illustration by
Coomaraswamy in his two series of Indian Drawings. Here we meet with
cheetah attacking a deer ; frisky cows; cow and calf; cow with anklets, bell
and plume; lion attacking man and deer; lynx and deer; running elephant;
Himalyan sheep; leopards fighting; grasshopper; leopard and deer; four
deer; three lions ; buffaloes; lion and rhinoceros ; running deer; partridge ; the
divine cowherd; lions.
The following is taken from the Indian Drawings Series I (p. 18);
44 The drawings of animals are amongst the most accomplished and most perfect
examples of Indian art of the 17th century. How far the tradition of animal
drawing is at all Persian, and how far indigenous it is difficult to say. It is
certain that we find very good and vital drawings of animals in the quite
purely Hindu work of the Tanjore School, and also that, whereas in Persian
paintings wild animals are regarded as creatures to be hunted rather than
understood, in Indian work their own specific and even individual character
is delineated as affectionately as in the case of the portraits of human beings.
The elephant is drawn with special knowledge and skill. * * * The runaway
buffalo has all the vitality and vigour which we find in the finest of Japanese
animal drawing, while the somewhat demure satisfaction of the tame rhinoceros
with bells round its neck is altogether delightful. The rendering of movement
in the drawing of four running deer is particularly good ; almost equally so is
the slow nibbling progress of two Himalayan sheep. * * * The little drawing
of a grasshopper shows that the smaller creatures were not forgotten. The
drawing of a partridge recalls the beautiful bird-studies of Durer. Some
1 Indian Drawings Series, II, p. 18 (India Society, London, 1912 ).
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of the best animal drawings are those representing the capture of one animal
by another, or the set fight between two animals.**
( g ) Vardhamihiran Fauna .
The Brihat Samhitd of the 6th century A.D. is rich in animal-lore—the
accounts of what has long been known as Natural History—and devotes
several chapters to a description of the features of cows, oxen, dogs, cocks,
turtles, goats, horses, and elephants. Chapter LXI begins thus: 41 All that
Par$6ara told Brihadratha about cows and oxen, I shall briefly state here.
1 shall, however, treat scientifically of the animals possessing good features.*’
The following enumeration is taken from Chapter LXXXVI 14 Crea
tures remarkable for speed, genius, strength, place occupied, merriment,
nobleness of mind or good sound are strong when in their own places; the
same rule applies to useful animals.
44 The cock, the elephant, the peacock, the vanjula, the musk-rat, the
duck and the kutapoori are strong in the east. The jackal, the owl, the hari-
tala pigeon, the crow, the ruddy goose, the bear, the ichneumon, the dove —
are strong in the south.
The ram, the swan, the esprey, the partridge, the cat are' strong in the
west. The crane, the deer, the rat, the antelope, the horse, the cuckoo, the
blue jay and hedgehog are strong in the north.**
Varahamihira classifies the Fauna according to habits of life thus:—
(1) The Indian cuckoo, the hog, the sasaghna, the vanjula, the peacock,
the sreekarqa, the Brahmani duck, the blue jay, the andiraka, the parrot, the
crow, the dove, the skylark, the wild cock, the osprey, the vultute, the monkey,
and the sparrow are day birds and animals.
(2) The jackal, the pingala, the chippika, the flying fox, the owl and the
hare are night birds and animals.
(3) Horses, serpents, camels, leopards, lions, bears, inguanas, wolves,
mungoose, deer, dogs, goats, cows, tigers, swans, antelopes, stags, hedgehogs,
cuckoos, cats, cranes and pigeons are both day and night animals.”
The various cries of animals, of both good and bad omen, have been
enumerated in Chapter LXXXVI 1 I.
In describing the methods of interpreting these cries, Varahamihira adds
the note that 41 birds and animals bear different names in different countries;
and hence the animals shall first be identified from their names.”
The omens connected with animals, regarding not only cries, but habits,
habitats, features, limbs and movements, have been elaborately described in
Brihat Samhita, and, in fact, form the subject matter of several chapters. Thus
1 Iyer’s Brihat Samhitd Part II, pp. 91-99,
* Ibid Part II, pp. 180-1.
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Chapter LXXX1X is devoted to the omens connected with the dog, the next
chapter begins with the statement that “all that has been said of the dog
applies also to the jackal, but there are a few special points to be noted,”
and gives the various malefic cries of the jackal. The omens connected with
wild animals are described in the 91st chapter, and those connected with the
cow, horse and elephant in the next three chapters respectively. The caw¬
ing of the crow has a large chapter (XCV) devoted to it. We read that “in
the case of people inhabiting eastern countries, the crow on the right side
indicates good luck ; but the crowing of the crane indicates prosperity when
on the left side. In other countries the case is otherwise. The limits of
provinces shall be learnt from a general knowledge of the country.
(h) Ayurvedic Fauna .
The medical literature furnishes abundant proofs of the intimate acquaint¬
ance of the Hindus with all the features of animal organism, internal and
external, as well as the principles governing animal life.
The animal kingdom has been utilised for the Materia Medica of the
Hindus since very early times. The musk and the poisons of cobra de capello
and of the snake-eating black cobra, are some of the animal-products used in
medicine. The properties of the flesh of various kinds of animals have been
discussed very elaborately in almost all treaties on Therapeutics.
1 he following is taken from Gondal's 1 History 0/ Aryan Medical Science :
Asihi (bone) of a goat reduced to ashes, and formed into an oint¬
ment with other ingredients, is used for curing fistulae. Cuttlefish bones are
also used medicinally.
Danta (tooth) of the elephant is prescribed in leucorrhea.
Dugdha (milk) is nutritive and vitalising. Human milk * * Cow's
milk * * Goat’s milk * * Sheep’s milk * * Elephant’s milk * * Ass's milk * *
Camel's milk.* * * The properties of milk are said to vary according to the
colour of the animal and the qualities of the pasture.
Garala (poison) of snakes is used in dropsy.
Meda (tat) of camels and hyenas is considered a valuable local remedy
for gouty joints.
Puchchha (feather) of a peacock is said to cure hiccough. It is also be¬
lieved that snake-poison will not affect one wearing a ring made of copper
extracted from peacock’s feathers.
Sringa (horn) of a stag has various medicinal uses.
Gondal mentions also the medicinal virtues of cowdung, elephant's fimus,
droppings of cocks and goats, conches, cowries, corals, biles of fish and other
aquatic creatures, nails, and urine of cows, horses, camels, elephants, goats,
1 Iyer’s Brihat Hamhita Part II, pp. 196-97.
* Pp. 129-184 (Edition of 1896).
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&c, skins of snakes, cob- webs of spiders, leeches, lac, honey, &c., used by
the. Hindu practitioners of the Ayurveda.
The Hindu Science of Toxicology, again, as one of the eight branches
of the Ayurveda, recognised by Charaka, has largely drawn upon Animal-
lore. 44 The treatment of poisons and their antidotes comes under the head
of Kalpa. Poisons are of two kinds (i) Sth&vara , vegetable and mineral
poisons; and ( 2 ) Jangama, animal poisons. 1 * * Jangama poisons include
venoms of such animals as insects, scorpions, spiders, lizards, serpents, mad
dogs, foxes, jackals, wolves, bears, tigers, &c. * * Both kinds of poisons are used
therapeutically by the Hindus."
In his lecture at the S&httya Sabhd of Calcutta, Dr. Gananath Sen referred
to Hindu Toxicology in the following words : This “contains the treatment
(i) of the crude poisons—vegetable, mineral and animal (including extensive
chapters on snake-bites and classification of snakes, &c.), and
(ii) of the microbic poisons, which, it is said, distinctly arise out of the
contamination of air, water, and soil, and immunity against which was sought
and partly attained.
The practice of appointing physicians skilled in Toxicology to accomoany
expeditions of large armies and to take charge of the king’s kitchen-room was
in vogue even at the time of Susruta. So late as in the reign of the kings of
Gautja we find the relics of the practice in the fact that Chakrapdni Datta, the
well-known physician and author of Bengal, describes his father as physician in
charge of the royal kitchen.”
Gondal also describes the indebtedness of Alexander (according to the
Greek historian Arrian) to the Hindu Vaidyas in curing cases of snake-bite
which defeated his Greek physicians. 44 In face of the fact that the European
Toxicologists are still in search of a specific for snake-poison, the Indian
physicians who lived some 2,200 years ago might well be proud of their skill.”
It may be incidentally remarked here that it is only during the last two
decades or so that snake-poison has been used as an article in western Materia
Medica; whereas it has been a recognised drug among the people of Hindusthan
from time immemorial. In noticing this superiority of Hindus over Europeans
we are reminded of the remark of Dr. Uday Chand Dutt about the diffidence
and caution of Yunani practitioners in the internal administration of mineral
drugs in which the Hindus had been proficient : • 14 We cannot help admiring
the ingenuity and boldness of the Hindu physicians when we find that they
were freely and properly using such powerful drugs as arsenic, mercury, iron,
&c., while the Musalman Hakims around them, with imperial patronage and the
boasted learning of the west,” were bold e tough only 44 to use them as few as
possible ” and consider them to be 41 dangerous drugs.”
1 Gondal’s Hist, of Ary. Med., pp. 155-150.
* Preface to Materia Medica of Hindus (8eoond Edition, 1900), pp. xiv-xv.
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According to Charaka, 1 “Animals are divided into four classess (i)
Jarayuja or Mammalia, (2) Andaja or oviparous, (3) Swedaja or those produced
from animal excretions, as parasites, etc., and (4) Udbhijja or those produced
underground or from vegetable matter, eg., indr a go pa , a sort of red insect.”
The following is taken from Part III of Dutt’s Materia Medic a 0/ the
Hindus : 11 Leeches have been employed by the Hindus from a very remote
period. Susruta gives a detailed account of their varieties, habits, mode of
application, &c. His account of leeches has been translated in full by Dr.
Wise. Pandit Madhusudan Gupta had also furnished a note on the subject for
publication in the Bengal Dispensatory. There are twelve varieties of leeches,
six of which are venomous and six useful. The venomous leeches are found
near putrid fish or animals in foul, stagnant and patrescent water. The good
leeches are found in clear and deep pools of water which contain water-lilies.
'Hie middle-sized leeches are the best. * • •
11 The lac insect (coccas lacca) has been known to the Hindus from a
very ancient period. The Butea frondosa is the principal tree in which lac is
said to be produced. It is used in colouring silk. * • *
11 Eight sorts of honey are described by Susruta ; of these varieties,
Mdkyka (collected by the common bee), Bhrdmara (collected by large black
bees), K$audra (collected by small bees), and Pauttika (collected by small black,
bees resembling ants) are described by recent writers. • *
“ The Bkdvaprakdsa describes three kinds of musk, viz , K&marupa,
Nepal a and Kftshmira musk. • * * In describing the properties of the flesh of
various animals Sanskrit writers divide them into two classes, viz., Jangala
or land and Anupa or water animals.” Land-animals are sub-divided into eight
classes, and water-animals into five. Thus we get the following classification :
I. —Jangala or Land Animals:
1. Jangala—living in forest; eg., deer, antelopes.
а. Vilastha—living in holes; e.g., serpents, lizards, porcupines, Ac.
3. Guha&ya—living in caverns ; e.g., tigers, lions, bears, &c.
4. Parpamriga—living on trees; e.g., monkeys, squirrels.
5. Vifkira—(birds) which take their food after tearing or scattering it;
eg., peacocks, quails, partridges, &c.
б. Pratuda—(bird*) which strike with their beaks ; e.g., pigeons, wag¬
tails, cuckoos, &c.
7. Prasaha—birds of prey; e.g, hawk, falcon, &c.
8. Grdmya- domestic ; eg., ox, goat, horse, sheep.
II. —Anupa or Water Animals:
i. Kulechara—grazing ih marshes; eg., buffaloes, yak, rhinoceros.
a, Plava—birds which swirti in water ; eg., geese, ducks, cranes, &c.
3. Kosastha—animals enclosed in shells; eg ,, conch-shells, bivalve-shells,
&c.
1 Ibid , p. L
80
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4. Padina-footed animals; tortoise, crocodile, porpoise, Slc.
5 . Matsy a—fishes.
The classification of Fauna adopted in the Hdrita Samhitd 1 in the
chapters on flesh (XX-XXII), which enumerate and describe several species of
animals, is as follows :
/. Chatufpada or Quadruped .
1. Ena.
2. Chitranga.
3. Chhikkara.
4. Rohita.
5. Sukara (or boar)
II. Sthalachara or Land Animals.
1. Lavaka.
2. Tittira (partridge).
3. Nllamayura (peacock),
4. Dwitiya mayura.
5. Kukkuta (jungle fowls).
6. Kapota (pigeon).
7. Chakora.
III, Jalachara or Aquatic Animals .
1. Water-Birds.
2. Makara (alligator).
3. Matsya (fish).
Regarding the knowledge of the Hindus about the internal morphology
of animal-organism, the following extracts may be cited t—
41 The Hindus could set fractures and dislocations in men and beasts.
They were perfectly acquainted with the anatomy of the goat, sheep, horse and
other animals used in their sacrifices. * * * The constant wars and internecine
strifes afforded ample opportunities to the surgeons to distinguish themselves
in their professions and acquire considerable dexterity in their work. * *
44 In order to acquire dexterity in surgery the preceptors made their
pupils practise different operations on various substances. * * Evacuating
was practised on the urinary organs of dead animals; • scarification on the
fresh hides of animals on which the hair was allowed to remain ; venesection
was practised on the vessels of dead animals ; application of caustics and the
actual cautery on pieces of flesh. * * *
44 Buddha and his followers 8 would not permit the dissection of animals.
They put a stop to animal sacrifice, in which a knowledge of anatomy was
indispensable and substituted models of doflgli.”
* See the Text edited by Kavir&ja Binodlal Sen of Calcutta.
* Oondal, pp. 176-180. See Hoernle’s Studies in Ancient Indian Medicine.
» Ibid , pp. 185-186.
6. Sasaka or hare.
7. Sallaka.
8. Salyaka.
9. Godha.
»o. Musaka.
8. Suka (parrot).
9. Sari.
10. Krauncha (dove).
11. Kokila (cuckoo).
12. Vivrit&ksa.
13. Grihachataka.
4. Kachchhapa (tortoise).
5. Kullra (crab).
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(0 Fauna in Veterinary Literature .
The very definition of the scope and province of Ayurveda 1 given by
Charaka (Sutra-sth&na, Ch. XXX) 44 covers not only the medical science in
its widest aspect including the veterinary science—specified as S<hotra and
sub-divided into Gajdyurveda and A&wdyurveda, but also certain phases of
Psychology and Ethics on which long philosophical and instructive discourses
are found in ancient Ayurvedic works.”
The importance and antiquity of veterinary science in the secular
literature of the Hindus have been noted by Gondal* also: u Hindu medicine
was at the acme of its glory in the time of Rhm&yana and the Mah&bbftrata.
To the court of every chief, great or small, was attached a physician. There
were Army Surgeons and Court Physicians. • • Veterinary science seems to
have been highly cultivated long before that period. Nala, a remote ancestor of
the P&ndavas, is described as a most accomplished horse-trainer, and as posses*
sing a thorough knowledge of all matters relating to the horse. Nakula, one of
the five Pdndavas, was an expert in the veterinary science on which he has
written several works, his Akwachikdsd being still extant. The science of
treating elephants, bullocks, and other domestic animals, was and is still known
in India. * * * Buddha established hospitals for men and beasts all over the
country; and the institutes of Pinjrapoles (Animal Hospitals), so peculiar to
India, owes its origin to him.”
The existence of treatises in Hindu literature, specially addressed to the
needs of the animal creation, is the strongest evidence of Zoological studies in
ancient and mediaeval India. It is quite natural that a veterinary science should
have come into being as a differentiated and specialised branch of the general'
Ayurvedic literature of those days, since agricultural live-stock, draught cattle,
cavalry, camel-corps, elephant-corps, &c., were the common features of the'
domestic, economic and political lives. Some idea of the secular activities
and 4 nature-studies * of the Hindus will be obtained from an account of their
treatises on elephants and horses.
(A) Pdlatfdpya or the Science of Elephants .
Treatises on elephants arc known to be Gajachikitsd ,* Gajavaidya , Gajd-
yurveda , Hastydyurveda , Hasti-vaidyaka , &c. The sage Palakapya is by tradition
known to be the originator of this science, which is not infrequently named after
him. The antiquity of these works is to be inferred from the following note in
Prof. Aufrecht’s Calalogus Catalogorum t Vol. I (1891). 4 “PdlakApya is quoted
1 Lecture delivered by Dr, Gaaanath Sen on Medical Science in Ancient India at the
S&hityft Sabha of Calcutta in 1906.
* Hitt . of Ancient Aryan Medicine t pp. 187-189.
* A fanciful name is Qvdhaprakaiikd. See Aufrecht, 1,140,
4 P, 866.
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by K$iraswamin on Amar*ko$a, Hemadri in Vratdkhanda, Sdrangadharapad•
dhati (p. 99), 1 and Mallin&tha.”
The volume of literature on the subject would be apparent if we mention
the various manuscripts referred to in the above 1 alphabetical register* of
Sanskrit works and authors/ The following account is based on that work.
A work called Gajachikitsd t or 4 Treatment of Elephants/ is to be found in
the Catalogue of Manuscripts belonging to the late Pandit Radhakrishna of
Lahore, who was famous not only for his enlightened views, but also for his
great knowledge of Sanskrit lore.
Gajadarpana and Gajasdstra are quoted by Hemftdri, and Dinakara res¬
pectively on Raghuvamsam. Hasli-vaidyaka is a work bv Virasena, 9 quoted by
Bhattotpala on Brihajjdtaka.
Gajapank$d is the name of a work in Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS. in
Private Libraries of Southern India (Vol. 11, Madras, 1885). Gaja/ak$ana or
1 Characteristics of Elephants/ attributed to Brihaspati, is also to be found in
Oppert’s List, as well as in the Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in the Library of
H. H. the Maharaja of Bikaneer compiled by Rajendral&l Mitra, 4 and in the
Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. existing in Oudh compiled by Pandit Deviprasad. 1
A copy of Gajdyurveda is to be found in the Supplementary Catalogue of
Sanskrit works in the Saraswati Bhanddram Library of H. H. the Maharaja of
Mysore, signed by F. Kielhorn. Aufrecht 6 mentions also such names of trea¬
tises on elephants as Gajaddna , Gajaddnapaddhati , Gajanlrdjanavidhi , Gaja-
sdnti , Gajdrohana-Prayoga, Gajdvarta-lak$ana t to be found in the catalogues of
Lahore, Benares, Madras, Tanjore and other places.
Treatises named after PdlakSpya, the first promulgator of the science,
the Charaka of Hastydyurveda, are to be found in the following catalogues:
(1) Report on the Search for Sanskrit manuscripts in the Bombay
Presidency during the year 1880-81 by Kielhorn.
(2) Catalogue of MSS. in the Library of the Benares Sanskrit College —
published as a Supplement to the * 4 Pandit” Vol. Ill—IX (Benares, 1864-74).
(3) Catalogue of Sanskrit Mss. in the Library of H. H. the Mahftrdja of
Bikaneer—compiled by Dr. RdjendraUl Mitra 1 (Calcutta, 1880).
1 Aufrecht’s analysis of the work in Vol. 27 of the Zeitschrift of the German Oriental
Society. Pllaklpya has been quoted in Agnipumna also (Chapter CCLXXVP. See Siva-
datta's Preface in Anand&srama Edition.
* First volume published at Leipzio in 1891, Second volume in 1896. Third volume
in 1908.
* Aufrecht, I, p. 765.
4 Published in Calcutta, 1880.
* Vol. XVI (1888).
* Vol. I, p. 140.
* On the merits of Mitra’s works Prof. Aufrecht says :
“ The copious extracts are very useful, and enable the attentive reader to judge of
the contents of a work, even where he is deserted by the English Text, The indefatigable
Industry of the Editor deserves every kind of commendation/'
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(4) Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in the Private Libraries of the N.-W.
Provinces (Allahabad, 1877-86).
(5) A Classified Index to the Sanskrit MSS. in the Palace at Tanjore,
by A. C. Burnell (London, 1880).
(6) Detailed Report of operations in search of Sanskrit MSS. in the
Bombay Circle (1882-87).
(7) Suchipustaka or a list of the MSS. of Fort William, the Asiatic
Society in Calcutta, etc. (Calcutta 1838),
The second volume of Aufrecht's monumental Catalogus Catalogorum
mentions (1) a Gajapartk$d in Peterson’s Fourth Report on the Search for
Sanskrit MSS in the Bombay Circle (1894), (2) a GajAyurveda or Hasty Ayurveda,
(3) a GajAyurveda printed at Poona in 1894 by the Anandasrama Publishing
House, (4) a Gajendramoksana , said to be taken from the Santiparva of MahA-
bhftrata (where, however, it is not found) in the Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in
the Library of H. H. the Maharaja of Ulwar, and also (5) a HastyAyurveda by
Pafakapya in the last list.
The third volume of Catalogus Catalogorum published in 1903 adds to the
above list the following names
(1) Gajavaidya , with a commentary in Telugu, in the collection of MSS.
belonging to the modern Sanskrit literature presented to the Library of the
India Office by A. C. Burnell.
(2) Gajendramoksana in Reports on Sanskrit MSS. in Southern India
by Hultzsch.
(3) HastyAyurveda by PalakApya in the catalogue of printed books and
MSS. in Sanskrit belonging to the Oriental Library of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal, compiled by Pandit Kunja Vihari NyAyabhusaija, under the super¬
vision of Mah&mahop&dhyAya Harapras&da Sastri.
The information contained in these treatises is more or less the same
as given in such works of modern times as Elephants and their Diseases , 1
by Lieut.-Co 1 onel G. H. Evans, Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department,
Burma, as a cursory glance at the table of contents in the HastyAyurveda %
published by the Anandasrama, Poona, would indicate. This work, attributed
to Palakapya Muni, has been edited by Pandit Sivadatta of Jeypore, Professor
of Sanskrit in the Government Oriental College, Lahore. In the Sanskrit
Preface to his edition Sivadatta says that those branches of Ayurveda con¬
cerning elephants, horses and other lower animals which were created by
such master-minds as PdlakApya, Salihotra and others, have become almost
extinct and are remembered only by the frequent quotations of latter-day
commentators, and that no other Sanskrit treatise on elephants has been
printed and published before his.
1 Published by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Burma, 1910 .
* Ho, 20 of the Anaqd&srama Sanskrit Series, Sivadatta's P&laU&pyci (1894, Poona),
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The work before us is based on four MSS.: two belonging to Jeypore,
one to Poona, and one to Calcutta. It is a huge treatise consisting of 727
pages of royal octavo size. It is divided into four books and contains 12,000
dlokas. Book I is divided into 18 chapters, and is called the Mahdrogaslhdna;
Book 11 is divided into 72 chapters and is called Kqudrarogasthdna ; Book 111
called Salyasthdna (surgery) is divided into 34 chapters. The last book has
36 chapters.
The work has been composed in the form of a conversation between
King Roroaphda of Champa in the Anga territory and his preceptor, the sage
Palakapya. The first four chapters of Bcok 1 may be taken to be introductory
to the whole work. We are told how the king of the Angas wants to have
the elephants of the forests tamed for his state, how the animals are brought
from the quarters of the country indicated by Louhitya River (Brahmaputra)
and placed under the care of Palakapya, the expert in the theoretical as well
practical sciences regarding elephants, who condescends to live with the
king and be his * guide, philosopher, friend * in the training and management
of elephants. The fourth chapter gives a preliminary survey of the subject
matter treated in the whole book.
Besides all topics connected with anatomy, 1 physiology, surgery, food*
medicines, diseases, treatment, poisons, &c., the work deals incidentally with the
relations between teachers and pupils in Book I, chapter vi, toxicology in
Book II, chapter vi, the seasons in Book IV, chapter xv, the leeches in Book IV,
chapter xxxiv, the superstitions and religious observances in Book IV, chapters
xxxv and xxxvi. In the 4th chapter of Book 1 there is a distinction* drawn
between exclusively theoretical and exclusively practical knowledge in
Hasty dyxirveda , and the advice to rulers is that they should appoint such men
only, in charge of the elephants, as combine both theoretical knowledge and
practical experience, for each alone is quite useless.
(B) Sdlihotra or the Science of Horses.
Treatises on horses are known to be aswachikilsd , aswasdstra, a&wavai-
dyaka t aswdyurveda , l &c. The father of the science of horses and the first pro¬
mulgator of the veterinary art concerning them is the sage fklihotra, after whom
also all these treatises are generally named. It has to be remarked that
S&lihotra stands often for all the veterinary sciences of the Hindus, not neces¬
sarily those relating to horse-life. In fact Salihotrashstra is divided into two
branches (1) Gajashstra and (2) Aswashstra.
We have seen that, besides Palakapya, tradition ascribes treatises on
elephants to one Virasena and to Brihaspati. Similarly, besides Saiihotra,
Hindu tradition knows of several authors* of works on horses, eg. t Nakula,
1 Book III, Chapters 9, 29.
* V. 108-122.
» A fanciful name is Siddhayoya-samgraha. Cf. Aufrecht I, p. 94.
4 Aufrecht I, pp. 34-85. See the useful Sanskrit Preface to Aawavaidyaka by Pandit
Vmesohandra Gupta Kaviratna, Librarian, Sanskrit College, Calcutta (1887),
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Bhojaraja, Jayadatta, Garga Risi, Gaija, Jayadeva, S&rangadhara, Nalardja,
Vahada, Dipamkara and others.
The antiquity of treatises on horses is to be inferred from the following
facts. The work of Jayadatta, called Aswauaidyaka , has been quoted in
Sdrangadharapaddhalt 1 . S&lihotra has been quoted by Hemadri in Vralakhanda .
The HayalUdvaii , also a work on horses, has been quoted by MallinAtha.*
The volume and importance of Hindu literature on horses would be evident
from a glance at the references in the three volumes of Calalogus Catalogorum.
The first volume* mentions : —
(i ) Aswachtkilsd or Aswavaidyaka by Jayadatta in Oppert’s lists.
(а) A&wachikitsd or Aswasdslra or Sdlihotrasdstra by Nakula in notices of
Sanskrit MSS. by R&jendral&l Mitra (1871-90), Kielhorn’s Catalogue of Sanskrit
MSS. in theC. P. (Nagpur, 1874), the Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. contained in
the Private Libraries of Gujrat, Kathiawad, Kach, Sindh and Khandes com¬
piled under the superintendence of Buhler (1871-73, Bombay), Mitra’s Bikaner
Catalogue, the Catalogue of Pandit Radhakrishna of Lahore, Deviprasada’s
Oudh Catalogue (vi, xviii, xix), Catalogue of N.-W. P. (V) and Burnell's
Tanjore Catalogue.
(3) Aswaddna in Oudh and Burnell.
(4) Aswaddnapaddhati in Radhakrishna and Peterson.
(5) Aswaddnaprayoga in Burnell.
(б) Aswaddnavidhi in Oudh.
(7) Aswolaksana in Oppert.
(8) Aswallldvati or Hayaltidvati in Oppert If.
(9) Aswavaidyaka by Jayadatta in Mitra's Notices (1871-90), and Oudh
(VI, XI, XVIII).
(to) Aswasdslra in Burnell.
(11) Aswasdra in Buhler.
(12) Aswdyurveda or Siddhayogasamgraha by Gana, son of Durlabha,
in Weber’s Berlin Catalogue (1853) and in Peterson; by Garga Ri§i in
Kielhorn.
(13) Nakula’s Aswachikitsd quoted in Sdrangadharapaddhalt *
(14) Sdlihotra , "the general name for veterinary art, 1 ascribed to Salihotra
Muni, for whom Nakula creates a^fatlier, Aswagliosa (Turangaghosa),” in
1 Aufrecbt I, p. 199. Vide also Pandit Gupta’s Sanskrit Preface, p. 6, where he discus¬
ses the identity of Jayadeva.
* Vide Gupta's Sanskrit Preface, p. 2.
* Pp. 84-35, 278, 644.
4 Aufrecht’s analysis of the work in Vol. 27 (1878) of the Zeitschrift of the German
Oriental Society, p. 43.
* Aufrecht, I, p. 644. Vide also Pandit Gupta’s Sanskrit Preface to Aswavaidyaka,
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Benares Catalogue, Radhakrishna, Oppert II, Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar’s Report
on the Search for Sanskrit MSS. in the Bombay Presidency during the year
1883-18&4.
(15) Sdlihotrasdra in Radhakrishna.
(16) S<hotronnaya in Burnell.
(17) Hayalildvati (quoted by Mallindtha) in Bodleian Sanskrit MSS.
(Oxford 1136)
The second volume 1 of Aufrecht mentions
(1) Aswachikitsd by Nakula in Stein.
(2) Aswad&na in Oudh (XX, XXI).
(3) Aswaparifyana , attributed to Nalarflja in Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar’s
Lists of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries in the Bombay Presidency.
(4) Aswavatdyaka by Jayadatta in Peterson.
(5) Aswddigundh in Peterson.
(6) Aswdyurveda by Gaga.
(7) Aswhyurveda-sdrasangraha by Vah&da, son of Vikrama, in Stein.
(8) Shlihotra “ veterinary art,” ascribed to Muni Salihotra in eight sthdn^a.
These are called unnaya, uttara, sariraka, chikitsita, kisorachikitsa or
sisubhaisajya, uttarottara, siddhisthana and rahasya” in Stein.
(9) Aswavatdyaka by Jayadatta in Ulwar
Aufrecht’s third volume* mentions
(1) Aswachikitsd by Nakula in Burnell's collection presented to India
Office, in Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar’s Report (1887-91); by Salihotra In Bhandarkar.
(a) Aswavatdyaka by Jayadatta in Hrishi Kesha Sastri and Siva Chandra
Gui’s Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in the Library of Sanskrit College,
Calcutta (1898); by Dipamkara, son of Nanakara, grandson of Nidanakara, in
Haraparasdda S&stri’s Report (1895-1900).
(3) Aswdyurveda by Gaga in HaraprasA'Ia Sastri.
The Hindu treatises on horses treat of almost the same topics as arc dealt
with in modern works on the subject, e.g. t Lieut -General Sir F. Fitzwygram’s
Horses and Stables,' Hayes’ Training and Horse Management in India , 4 etc.
The 68 chapters in the Aswavatdyaka of Jayadatta and 18 chapters in Aswa*
chikitsd of Nakula, both edited by Pandit Umeschandra Gupta, Librarian,
Sanskrit College, Calcutta, for the Bibliotheca Indica (1887) deal among other
things with their anatomy, the good and bad signs, as indicated by their colour,
feathers, &c„ age, growth and development, the classification according to mettle,
their movements, paces &c., and usefulness as draught-animals or as cavalry
&c., embryology, articles of food and nourishment according to seasons, the
various ailments and remedies, &c.
* Pp. 7,158,188. ~~
*P. 8.
9 Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1911.
4 Longmans, Green St Co., London, 1906.
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( 241 )
The origin of the science of horses is thus described by the editor in the
Sanskrit Preface on the evidence of Nakula’s treatise. The winged horses of
Indra could not be controlled. So S&lihotra was requested by Indra to lop off
their wings. This was done, but the poor animals waited in deputation upon
the powerful sage who had brought them to this plight. He was moved and
the result was the composition of treatises to heal the wounds of the horses
and minister to the needs of their proper development.
Appendix B.
(;). Zoological Taxonomy of the Hindus.
See Dr. Seal's notes on the subject in Appendices.
Section 4.
The Sukra Fauna.
The authors of the Sukra Cycle were well-read men, their culture was
widely varied, and their scholarship adequately deep. The Mineralogical and
Botanical data in their work call up before us the large range of their studies,
as they unmisfakably point to their thorough grasp of the scientific literature of
their times. Further, the brief and fragmentary survey of the Zoological lore
of the Hindus we have given in the preceding section (i) indicates not only the
character of the literary atmosphere in which all Sanskrit works were com¬
posed in ancient and mediaeval India, but (ii) also suggests to a certain extent
the curriculum of nature-studies or the courses of scientific instruction which
undoubtedly formed an integral part of the libera] education of the Brahma -
ch&rit of yore.
The words of Mark Pattison that the appreciation of Milton’s
poetry is the last test of consummate classical scholarship, apply with equal
force to the Nitisdslra of Sukracharyya, since in this work the authors have
summed up the whole encyclopaedia of Hindu learning, literary, scientific as
well as technical, according to the conception and standard of those ages.
Sukranili, from its scope and subject matter, is, as we have already noticed in
the chapter on Mineralogy, the embodiment of comprehensive Hindu scholar¬
ship, its achievements and limitations, its processes and products, its methodology
and contributions—not, however, in the interest of an abstract, academic,,
intellectual gymnastics, but solely to subserve the practical ends of Hindu
socio-economic and socio-political life, in accordance with the actual require¬
ments of some of the epochs of Indian culture-history.
This, however, is unfortunately the main reason why it is difficult to realise
the local or epochal characteristics of the work. The analysis of the inter¬
nal evidences does not carry us very far. The fallacy of argumentum ex silentio
and the existence of floating or conventional ideas are the eternal agencies
that circumscribe the range of 4 wide solutions ’ that may be possibly attempted.
Besides, it is not always easy to estimate the value of the findings or data from
a work; for (1) they are not sufficiently copious, (3) their comparison and contrast
11
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( 242 )
with standard texts are not in many cases possible, because of the want of many
such texts of approved authenticity, and (3) their comparison and contrast with
the physical and sociological conditions are, if anything, really vague, indefinite
and inconclusive, because of the epitomic and almost universal or uniform
character of the Indian world, in both its physical and human aspects.
Thus with regard to the Sukra Fauna, it is not possible to achieve even
the tentative character of the results we have arrived at in our treatment of the
Botanical data. For our authors have drawn upon the animal world of their
country and the Zoological lore of their people in a very general manner. It is
not safe to assign a specific character to their references to animal-life, as we
have been able to do in the case of their botanical knowledge.
The animal world has been pot trayed by the Sukra authors mainly as a
store-house of analogies, illustrations, &c. for the truths of the moral world.
This treatment is more or less conventional, and, while it indicates a familiarity
of the authors with the habits, habitats, &c., of animals, it does not supply us
with a positive terra firma or a reasonable ground for presuming any geographical
limits, and does not seem to prove anything beyond a mere acquaintance with
the lore on the subject, through fables or adages.
Besides these illustrative references, there are in Sukranlti some toxico¬
logical ideas dealing with the sensitiveness of certain animals to poisons. Now
Toxicology is a science as old as the Ayurveda. We meet with it in all medical
treatises from Charaka downwards. Palakapya also deals with the subject.
The Arthasastra of Kautilya, the work of the 4th century B.C., utilises the
current ideas in its chapter on the management of the royal household.
Thirdly, the agricultural live-stock and domestic cattle have been referred
to in Sukranlti, but the references are not very exhaustive. Anything like
detailed treatment of the animal world is to be met with in the chapter on
the Animal-corps of the state. But here, also, ue miss, as we should, not
only the comprehensive character of Pdlakapya and Aswavaidyaka . &c.,—
treatises devoted exclusively to elephants and hor^ps,—but also the elaborate
details that we expect in handbooks meant for officers of the state. Such
an exhaustive account of the military live-stock, however, we get from Kau-
tilya’s Arthasbstra, which has drawn upon the veterinary literature of the
country to a more considerable extent.
Thus the whole subject of cattle, their maintenance, protection, medical
treatment &c., treated in the second chapter of Mr. Law's work based on the
Arthasastra , is entirely lacking in Sukranili. Similarly, the geographical,
technical and other aspects of fauna, wild, domestic, agricultural or military,
which are to be met with in Sivadatta's edition of Hastydyurveda and (Jmesh-
chandra's edition of treatises on horses by Jayadatta and Nakula, have been
treated by Kautilya, but neglected by the Sukra authors. To quote Mr. Law, 1
“As in regard to horses, certain ceremonies were observed to propitiate
1 P.68. ~
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I 243 )
unseen agencies for the welfare of elephants. Thus draft, or waving of lights,
was performed thrice daily in the rainy season and at periods of conjunction
of two seasons. Sacrifices to BhUlas were also performed on new moon and
full-moon days, as also to Sendni or Kartikeya, the god of war.” Cere¬
monies like these have been described in the last two chapters of Pdlakapya,
Book IV.
A reference to the Zoological works in Hindu literature would demon¬
strate the depth and width of the learning displayed by Kautilya in his
compilation of the Imperial Gazetteer of Maurya India, and would substantiate
the truth contained in the following words with which Mr. Law concludes his
account of the Department of Live-stock in Chandragupta’s Government: * We
have seeu the comprehensive character of its scope and work touching the
welfare and growth of such important animals as the cow, the horse or the
elephant, on which depended, to a great extent, both the economic prosperity
and political security of the country.”
The paucity of Zoological information supplied by Sukranili would be
evident from another consideration also. In the case of the Flora, the enu¬
meration of trees in two lists gave us scope wide enough for the application
of the ecological and literary methods in order to find out its locale. But
the authors have not presented us with any taxonomy of animals, scientific
or unscientific, or any register of the fauna to be kept in Zoological gardens
or hunting forests, or the like. We do not read in the Sukranfti of any sys¬
tem of classification or enumeration like that we find in the Artha-s&stra , for
example. The following list of Kautilya, though very poor, does at any rate
furnish us with a positive record ot the fauna in the Royal Gardens or State
Forests of the Empire ruled from Pdtaliputra, the historic city of Eastern
India in the post-Buddhistic ages. The animals 1 that were exempted from
capture, molestation and slaughter, and maintained in the Abhaya-vanas , or
' Forests of safety, * are : —
(1) Birds, deer and other animals living in the forests under state pro¬
tection, as well as fishes in the ponds therein.
(2) Those birds, fishes, deer, and other animals that do not prey upon
life.
(3) Calves, bulls, and milch-cows.
(4) Ocean animals resembling elephant, horse, man, ox, or ass.
(5) Fishes in rivers, lakes and canals.
(6) A few game-birds, specially named as follows: cranes in rivers,
lakes and canals, ospreys, sea-eagles, gallinules, swans, flamingoes, &c., Brah-
many ducks, pheasants, fork-tailed shrikes, partridges, cuckoos, peacocks,
parrots, Turdus salica (main&).
(7) Those birds and beasts that were regarded as sacred ( e.g -., those
enumerated in Asoka’s Rock-Edict V).
1 Law’s Studies, pp. 32-88. The protection of birds in agricultural countries is a
necessity as worm-eaters. Cf. the wretched condition of French agriculture as a
result of the indiscriminate destruction of birds,
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Even such a list, if we had it in Sukranlti, would not have been suffi¬
cient for the purposes of finding out the locale of the Fauna and of the authors
who described it; for (i) a study of the Zoological geography 1 of India would
indicate that these are more or less uniformly distributed throughout the coun¬
try, and (ii) the commercial history would show that fauna have been imported
to long distances from their native habitats as articles of commerce.
But Sukranlti refers to animals only incidentally as it were; the natural
presumption being that the nature-studies in it, as far as the fauna is concerned,
are not probably the result of any direct local or personal experience, but are
derived from the perusal of works on the subject or the store-house of floating
Zoological literature. If, again, personal or local experience be admitted, no
conclusive evidence as to the home of the authors can be secured, since the
animals may be brought from place to place for purposes of sale.
The existence of camel-corps in the army seems to be a special feature
of Sukranlti and might point to the locality where camels abound.*
But camels have been important in Indian economic life since at least the
days of Arthas&stra. Thus, among the duties of the superintendent of pastures*
in Chandragupta’s Empire, was the regulation of the grazing of cattle. *• As to
the kind of animals that were allowed admission into the grazing grounds,
we have information from two passages. The first passage mentions that a
herd may be of cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, asses, camels, horses or mules.
The second passage, which appears in a different context, refers to cows, horses,
and camels as being the animals which flourish on pastures and are the source
of power to the king.**
If camels be recognised to be a 4 source of power to the king'by the
Prime Minister of the first Empire-builder in India, it is not difficult to see
that the camel-corps should have been a regular institution in the war-
establishment of Hindu kings of any importance. Even if their territory did
not include areas specially fit for camel-life, rulers would find no difficulty in
importing them as articles of commerce for purposes of conveyance, peaceful or
military. It may be observed that, as marketable commodities, animals, though
less mobile than metals and precious stones, are more so than flora ; the 4 mar¬
ket* for them is therefore wider and more extensive.
As for the habitat of camels, it has to be noted, that they are “ nowhere found
in a wild state."* Again, to quote from Blau ford’s Mammalia in the Fauna oj
British India . “It is unknown in the wild state, and although Bactrian camels have
been found wild by Prejvalski and others in the deserts east of Yarkand, there is
but little doubt that these wild individuals are descended from tame ancestors."
The result is, that camels are to be seen wherever there are people rich
enough to need and have a ‘ demand ’ for them. The mention of camels
1 Chapter V. Indian Empire Vo] I, in the Imperial Gazetteer of India.
* As Prof. Yogeshchandra Hay suggests in a footnote to Ratnaparik^d.
* Law's Studies , p. 27.
4 Natural History of Indian Mamm ilia by Sterndale (Thacker, Spink & Co., Galontta,
1884), p. 618.
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and existence of camel-corps, therefore, do not necessarily point to the natural
habitat of these animals, but solely to the power, prosperity and importance
of the persons who command them.
Just as in the case of minerals we could not come to any reasonable con¬
clusion as to the locale of the Sukra authors, so also here we have to confess
inability to point to any geographical environment which might leave its
stamp on the work. We proceed now to give an account of the various
species of fauna referred to in Sukraniti. 1
Section 5.
Mammals in Sukraniti.
Reserving for subsequent treatment the agricultural live-stock and animal-
corps, we notice here the various orders of fauna treated by the Sukra authors.
(а) Primates .
The monkey* is one of the animals whose sensitiveness to poison should
be availed of in the detection of deleterious and malefic ingredients in the king's
food. The test is supplied by the fact that at the very sight of poisoned
food, monkeys pass stools.
The Sukra authors have recorded also the tradition of monkeys being
followers of the hero of the Ram&yaqa. 44 There has never been a virtuous king
like RAma, of whom even monkeys* accepted service.” Again, “ Fate was
certainly unfavourable to Ravaija, when he met with discomfiture from even
one monkey 4 on the occasion of Van abhanga .”
(б) Carnivora .
There are three families of this order in Sukraniti—Cats, Dogs and Bears.
1 . Felidae,
The Felidae or Family of Cats is represented by (1) the Lion, (a) the
Tiger, (3) the Fishing cat.
In Sukraniti , the lion is the embodiment of strength* and prowess. The
authors have illustrated the strength of unity by drawing the analogy of the union
of threads. 44 The unity of opinion possessed by the Many is more powerful than
the king. The rope that is made by a combination of many threads is strong
enough to drag the lion.*'
The lion is the king of animals, and hence is used by all Sanskrit authors
for comparison with the ruler of men. Lion-cuhs are like princes; a in the
section dealing with the management of princes we are told that 44 even when
well-governed, if they get a slight opening, they forthwith kill the protector, as
lion-cubs kill the elephant at the first opportunity.”
Lions were tamed’ in those days. The taming of lions has supplied an
' 1889-91, p. 558. 4 Sukra I, 658-67.
* Sukra IV, vii, 838-89. • Sukra V, 114-15.
* Sukra II, 35-87. • Sukra 1,111-18.
1 Sukra IV, i, 48-49.
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illustration in statecraft. 41 One should bring friends and foes to bay by
appropriate methods, just as snakes, elephants and lions are tamed."
The tiger 1 is one of the animals with which the king is advised to sport in
the forests, and which is to be used by him for extirpating the undesirable, i>. f
seditious or intriguing,* relatives in the interest of the state's prosperity.
Tiger-hunting was certainly one of the adventurous feats of both rulers and
men ; among the general rules of morality we have the advice that one should
not go alone to attack snakes, tigers* and thieves.
The tiger is known to be inferior in position to the lion. It
is also stated that the king should promote the soldiers' strength and
valour by organising hunting excursions against tigers 4 and big game.
Thus we read that, just as even the tiger* and the elephant cannot govern
the lion, the king of beasts, so all the councillors combined are unable to control
the king, who acts at his own sweet will.
The tiger is also known to be untamable, hence the advice, * 4 Association
with tiger,* fire, snake, and other ferocious animals is not good. Even when
served, the king and these things can never be friends to any body."
It has to be remarked that Sukra authors know of the lion and the tiger as
animals belonging to the same tribe, the Felidae. In the section on construe-
tion of images of gods and their vahanas (vehicles or conveyances or symbols),
we have the foliowing rules: “ The tiger 1 has the form of a cat, yellow colour,
black marks (stripes), huge physique and no manes. The lion has a thin waist,
large eye-brows, big eyes, a young appearance, manes, grey colour and black
marks. The difference between the lion and the tiger is only in manes and
marks, not in appearance." The fact that these animals belong to the same
family is known by the proverb common enough in India that the cats are aunts
of these animals.
The tiger is one of the animals that have supplied emblems and seals of
state. Thus, on the authority of the Tamil classic, Pattinapp&li , Mr. Aiyangar
says in Ancient 7 w//a # :“They did not forget in those days to maintain a
regular customs establishment, the officials of which piled up the grain and
stored up the things that could not immediately be measured and appraised,
leaving them in the dockyards carefully sealed with the tiger signet of the king.'*
The cat* is the animal the lustre of whose eyes has supplied the name for
the moving rays of a gem, called Vaiduryya. The habits of the fishing cat are
well-known to the Sukra authors. In the supplementary chapter dealing with
the political morality of rulers, Sukrftcharyya advises the king always to be on
the look out for opportunities. 44 One should wait guardedly like the cat 10 and
' Sukra I, 665-66.
* Sukra II, 56-56.
* Sukra III, 323.
- Sukra IV, vii, 880-81.
* Sukra IV, iv, 881-85,
• Sukra IV, vii, 84-85.
* Sukra III, 518-510.
8 P. 66.
9 Sukra IV, ii, 02.
10 Sukra V, 8-0.
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the fowler, and by creating confidence extirpate the enemy whose soul has
been ruined by vices.”
ti. CanidoB .
The Canidae or the Dog-Family is poorly represented. There are no
references to jackals, foxes or wolves. Only the common dog has been
mentioned! It stands for a contemptible miserable creature in the following
Burns-like ultra-socialistic statement of Sukracharyya : “ Does not even the
dog 1 look like a king when it has ascended a royal conveyance ? Is not the
king justly looked upon as a dog by the poets ?”
The idea is that the king does not look magnificent unless he is attended
by the retinue of officers and the regal insignia as well as the paraphernalia.
The king alone is no more than a dog, #.*., cannot command awe and-reverence
of the people. Truly,
44 The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The man is the gowd for a’that,
• * * *
You see you birkie, ca’d a lord,
Wha struts, and stares, and a’ that;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He’s but a coof for a’that.”
iiu UrsidcB.
The Ursidae or Bear-Family is likewise not important in Sukranlti. One
species has been mentioned and that only once. The timid horses are known
to be those'that have snake-like tongues and the colour of bears.* Evidently
the black bears 5 are referred to, which are covered with long coarse hair, in¬
habit some of the hottest parts of India, are generally very timid and are easily
tamed.
(c) Rodentia .
Only one Family of this order has been mentioned in Sukranlti, e.g. t Rats
and Mice,
The Muridae or Rat-Family is represented by common rats. Their
sensitiveness to poison has been mentioned by the authors as one of the tests
for examining the food of the king. At the very sight of poisoned food the
rats 4 become excited.”
(d) Ungulata.
44 To this order belong elephants, horses, rhinoceros, tapirs, oxen, antelopes,
goats, sheep, deer, camels, and swine, besides several generic forms not now
found in India. Some of these, however,—for instance, aspecies of giraffe and
hippopotamus inhabited the country in past times. All the most valuable
domestic animals are ungulates.”
From this statement of Blanford it might be naturally expected that the
ungulates should be copiously represented in Sukranlti. In fact it is so ; and
* Sukra 1, 745-J6.
* Sukra IV, vii, 880.
* Indian Empire, Vol. I, Chap. 5, p. 228, in the Imp. Gaaet. Series.
4 Sukra I, 664-57.
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whenever there is a general reference to animals or an enumeration of several
species, we may take it to imply the ungulates. Reserving the agricultural
and military live-stock, e.g. t the elephants, horses, camels and bulls for separate
treatment, we mention below the various contexts in which the other families
of the ungulates have been referred to by the Sukra authors.
i. CapridcB.
The Capridse or Goat-Family has been well-represented in Sukranlti.
Of course the distinction between goats and antelopes cannot be traced in it
Among the references to cattle, without any specification, goats are to be under¬
stood as belonging to them. And in those passages where one or two animals
have been mentioned by name and the others are referred to by an 11 etc.,” goats
should certainly be counted.
Some of the officers in the Department of Live-stock in Hindu States are
in charge of goats, 1 sheep, cows &c. Only such persons are to be appointed
as are skilful in tending and nourishing them and who have love for those
animals.
The goat is known to be a very stupid animal. The stupidity of a
man, vain through possession of wealth, is thus described: 11 The man who
is proud of his wealth does not know of his own infamy, just as the goat*
uses his urine to wash his own urine-scented mouth or face.”
The comparative prices 3 of sheep, goals and cows are given below :
Ordinary :
She-goat = £ cow [ = £ silver pala (= Rs. 4)].
She-sheep = £ she-goat = } cow [ = Rs. 2]
Extraordinary :
Cow = 8 or 1 o silver pa las - Rs. 64 or 80.
She-goat or she-sheep = 1 silver pala — Rs. 8.
The Public Finance of Sukr&charyya recognises goats and other animals
as important national resources to be tapped in the interest of the state. The
king should realise one-eighth of the increase of goats, 4 and one-sixteenth
of the milk of she-goats. The payments are to be in kind, it appears.
it. Ovid OB.
The Ovidse or Sheep-Family has received the same treatment in Sukra-
niti as the Capridae. We have seen in connexion with goats the rules about
the appointment of officers for the management of the royal live-stock. The
prices of sheep also have been given above in the comparative statement.
The wool 1 derived from the fleece of the sheep is, like silk, an important article
of the royal household ; and trained men have to be appointed to look after
these stuffs.
1 Sukra II, 297-8. ~ ~~
* Sukra III, 170-180.
a Sukra IV, ii, 188-102. The History of Indian Prices will be dealt with in the chapter
on the Data of Ancient Indian Economics.
< Snkra IV, ii, 280-240.
* Sukrall, 807-808.
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The state revenue from sheep is indicated in the following regulation :
The king should have one-eighth of the increase of sheep , 1 and one-sixteenth
of the milk of the female animals. The rule is thus exactly the same as in the
case of goats.
mi . Ceroid(x.
The Cervidae or Deer-Family is celebrated in Indian classical poetry.
The elongated eyes of the animal are the touchstone of beauty in visual
organs, according to the aesthetic sense of damsels idealisd by Hindu poets.
The animal is also appreciated for its gentle and tame disposition, and is the
invariable stock-in-trade of authors for describing peaceful hermitages of
ascetics and saints. The deer is known to be very fond of music. In Rajput
school of painting, the deer is the conventional symbol* for one of the tunes
or Ragipis, called the Tori , SukrAch&ryya, in describing the iri^ayas or things
of enjoyment which overpower the character of human beings, refers to the
effects of delightful sound even upon lower creatures: 14 The deer , 9 which
is innocent, feeds upon grass and blades and can roam far and wide, seeks
death attracted by the music of the tempter.'* This fondness of the deer for
music has been again referred to in connexion with statecraft. 11 One should
always do good of those whom one intends to ruin. The fowler sings sweet
in order to entice and kill the deer .” 4
The Department of Live-stock should make provision for stabling the
animals. The following rule about deer applies equally to goats, sheep, Ac.:
14 Houses should be built towards the west for cows, deer,* camels, elephants and
other animals.*' The rule for the appointment of men in charge of animals is the
same in all cases. We are told that each species should have a separate staff
of officers: 44 The king should appoint separately the heads of elephants,
horses, chariots, infantry, cattle, camels, deer , 6 birds, gold, jewels,'* &c. The
qualifications of such men have been already noted in connexion with goats
and sheep. The leaping of the deer is well-known and supplies the technical
term fora pace of horses: "The pluta movement is that in which the horse leaps
with all the four legs like the deer." T
The prices of deer have not been noticed, nor also the revenue derived
from them.
tv. Suidce.
The Suidae or Boar-Family has supplied an avatara or incarnation of
Visnu, as we have previously noticed, in Hindu mythology. In the Sukraniti
we do not read much of it. The tradition is recorded that one of the sources of
pearls is the hog.*
* Sukra IV,ii ,280-40.
* See CJoomftraswftmy’s Selected Examples of Indian Art .
* Sukra I, 208-4. See also 111, 83-84.
4 Sukra V, 62-63.
* Sukra 1,450.
4 Sukra II, 237-288.
* Sukra IT, vii, 294.
* Sukra IV, ii, 117-18,
12
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(e) Cetacea.
The whale is known to be an aquatic animal. It is symbolical of huge
size. SukrAchAryya teaches man humility by the following illustration: 41 One
should remember that there is the animal which devours the devourer of
whales, 1 RAghava is the devourer of that even, and there is the destroyer of
RAghava.” So the rule* is that the wise man should never consider 41 1 am
superior to all, I am more learned than others.”
Section 6.
Aves in SukranUi.
Birds* are mentioned along with the cattle and other animals as some of
the attractions of the place where the capital city is to be built. The economic
importance of this department of Fauna is further shown in SukranUi by the
provision for the appointment of a special staff to look after the birds 4 main¬
tained by the state. Some of the battle-orders in which troops are enjoined to
be arrayed indicate careful observations of the limbs of the aves and their
habits, &c.
(a) Passeres .
Passeres 1 constitute more than half of the Birds of India; but only one
family of this order has beeu mentioned in Sukraniti, e.g. t the Eulabetidse. The
bird gackle, talking mainA or hill mainA which belongs to this family is to be
used in the examination of royal food. The toxicological principle is the fact
that the bird begins vomiting at the very sight of poisoned food. 6
(£) Coccyges.
The cuckoos belong to the Cuculidae Family of this order. The shout of
the bird is traditionally known to be sweet and has been much poetised both in
the east and west. In advising people to learn restraint and gentleness in
speech, SukrAchAryya remarks that 44 the voices of the drake red with passion,
the cuckoo 1 and the peacock are not so attractive as those of the good and the
wise.*' It requires to be noted here that poets have not bestowed much atten¬
tion on the talking mainA which has the wonderful power of imitating human
voice.
(c) Psittaci.
To this order belong the parrots, which can be made to acquire human
voice like hill mainAs. Among the qualifications of persons to be appointed to
the Department of Live-stock, one is the ability to teach parrots,® (and birds
1 Sukra III, 446-47.
9 Sukra III, 444-45.
* Sukra I, 425-28.
- Sukra II, 287-88.
* Indian Empire, Vol. I, p. 289, in Imperial Gazetteer ,
* Sukra I, 654-57.
* Sukra 1, 887-88.
•Sukra II, 800-02,
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generally). Sukr&chdryya refers again to the educability of these birds in the
following lines:
“The elephant, the horse, the ox, the child, the wife and the parrot 1 * * get
the qualities of their teachers through association.”
(d) Accipitres.
To this order belong the Indian birds of prey. The Syena or hawk is the
only bird mentioned in Sukranlti that may be placed in one of the families of
this very great order. One of the qualifications of men to be appointed in
charge of birds and animals is the knowledge and skill of catching hawks* by
appropriate enticements. They must know when such birds fall victims to
arrows. This bird has supplied a technical term to military science. One
of the forms of battle array is known to be the syena or hawk-order or order
with two wings. The soldiers are to be arrayed in this form when the
enemy is known to have placed danger ahead , 9 *>., when the army has to
encounter a front attack. It is the order in which the wings 4 are large, the
throat and tail medium, and the mouth small.
(e) Co lumbar.
Pigeons or Treroninae are common Indian birds belonging to theColumbae
order. This bird also has supplied the form of a battle order called after it
the Krauncha Vyuha • or Pigeon array. It is to be formed according to the
nature of the region and the troops in the same rows as the movements of
pigeons in the sky. It is that order in which the neck is thin, the tail medium
and the wings thick.
(/) Gallinas .
This order comprises the common Game Birds of India, e.g „ pea-fowls,
jungle-fowls, pheasants, partridges, quails, &c. This order is well-represented
in Sukranlti.
The peacock’s divided note is called keka in Indian literature, and the bird
itself is held sacred eg. by several ruling dynasties. It is the vhhana of the
war-god K&rtikeya. Sukra authors, as we have seen above,have recorded the
tradition about its voice. 11 The man who is popular speaks sweet words like
the notes of the peacock .” 6 11 But the voice of the peacock is not so sweet as
that of the good and the wise. So one should use pleasant words both to
good men and enemies. The sensitiveness of peacocks to poisons is a test to
be utilised in the examination of royal food; for at the sight of poisons,
toxicologists say, peacocks begin to dance. T The feathers* of the bird are
known to the Sukra authors as possessing bright lustre ofemerald or pacht.
Its long neck has also been observed. The gait of the horse is called valgita
1 8ukra III, 582-688.
* Sukra II, 800-802.
•Bukra IV, vil, 627-28,
4 Sukra IV, vil, 660.
k Sukra IV, vii, 550-68.
1 Sukra I, 886-88.
Sukra I, 054-67.
Sukra IV, ii, 87.
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when it runs with contracted legs, neck raised like that of the peacock 1 and half
the body trembling.
The jungle-fowl or the cock* is known to cry at the very sight of poison.
This supplies a test to the medical officers superintending the royal kitchen.
The tittira or partridge has been referred to only once. It is stated that
the men in charge of birds should be competent enough, among other things,
to domesticate the partridges.*
(g) Gralla.
The Gruidae or Crane-Family is one of the many families belonging to
this order that has been mentioned in Sukrantti. Cranes get intoxicated 4 at
the sight of poisons. Hence, their utility to men and especially to princes who
should always have their food examined before meals.
(h) Anserees.
Ducks belong to this order. These birds begin to limp 1 at the very sight
of poisons. This sensitiveness is to be utilised by the medical men of the palace.
Drakes or Swans or Ganders are also famous in Indian poetry as emblematic
of passionate love. Their notes are known to be sweet like those of the cuckoo
and the peacock. Thus we have the advice regarding cultivation of restraint
and gentleness in speech : “ The voices of the drake 0 red with passion, the
cuckoo, and peacock are not so attractive as those of the good and the wise.”
Section 7.
Reptiles in Sukrantti .
According to the Fauna of British India (1890-1900) there are altogether
153 genera containing 558 species of reptiles in India. These belong to three
orders: (1) Emydosauria or Crocodiles ; (2) Chelonia or Tortoises and Turtles
and (3) Squamata or Lizards and Snakes.
“The Reptiles of India 7 are far more numerous than mammals and more
destructive to human life ; snake-bites alone cause more deaths than all the
wild beasts together.'*
It is not strange, therefore, that Reptiles should have made a deep
impression on the life, habits and thought or literature and art of the people of
India in ancient and mediaeval times. Sukraniti is full of references to reptiles,
especially to snakes, indicating the great familiarity of the authors and their
countrymen with these species of Fauna, whether they willed it or no.
(a) Emydosauria .
The makara or alligator is a very familiar river animal. It has left its
influence on Hindu religion, art and industry. It is sacred to the goddess
Gangft, one of the national rivers of the Hindus. The goldsmiths and jewellers
1 Sukra IV, vii, 297-98. 4 Sukra I, 654-57. —
• Sukra I, 654-57. * /bid.
» Sukra II, 297-298. * Sukra I, 887-388.
' 1mperial Gazetteer of India- Indian Empire, Vol. I, Chap. V, Zoology,
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manufacture the alligator pattern of ornaments and decorative devices much
appreciated by connoisseurs. The national taste of the people also finds satis-
faction in the alligator shapes perpetuated in sculpture and painting.
Nor is this all. This family of reptiles has contributed a technique to
military science or Dhanurveda. Thus, according to Sukraniti , one of the
recognised Battle-orders is the alligator array 1 in which the commander should
arrange his troops when he has to face an opposition in the front. This vyuha
or array* is described as that form which has four legs, long and thick mouth
and two lips. There is no doubt that the formation is based on a correct
observation of the external organs of the animal.
(b) Che Ionia.
Tortoises are sacred to the goddess Yamuna, another holy river of the
Hindus in upper India. Like the Boar, this species of Fauna has contributed
an avatara, or one of the io divine incarnations, to Hindu mythology. The
animal has been referred to only once in a passage that describes at once its
physique as well as an important feature of the material civilisation of ancient
India. The Sukra ideal of road-making is given in the following line: 41 The
roads are to be made like the back of a tortoise 3 (*>., high in the middle), and
should be provided with drains on both sides for the passage of water/’
Tortoise 4 shells seem to have been some of the at tides of trade in the
early Christian era. The Periplus records that from the port of Muziris on the
Arabian coast, famous also in Tamil classics, the list of exports included
among other things 4 ‘ tortoise shell from the golden Chersonese or from the
islands off the coast of Limurike.”
(c) Squamata .
The dangerous character of snakes is too well-known. But bad men are
more dangerous than they. The advice, therefore, is that 4< one should associate
rather with snakes* whose mouths contain poison and whose faces have been
darkened by the smoke of fire exhaled by their breathings, but never with bad
men.”
Like the tiger, the snake is also emblemical of fury and vehemence. One
of the attributes of the king is fury and prowess. He is therefore naturally
compared with a snake, 6 and officers are advised to approach him with
caution.
The snake is never to be pitied or neglected. 44 The snake,* the fire, the
wicked man, the king, the son-in-law, the nephew, the disease, and the enemy
—these are not to be regarded as being too small.” Expeditions against snakes*
must, therefore, have been common. The advice is 44 one should not go alone
to attack snakes, tigers and thieves ”
Another reference to dangerous things includes snakes also. “Association
i Sukra IV, vii,627, 528.
* Sukra IV, vii, 600.
* Sukra 1,581-82.
4 Aiyangar— Ancient India, p.66.
‘Sukra 1,827-28.
* Sukra 480-81
7 Sukra III, 212-18.
• Sukra 111,828.
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with tiger, fire, snake 1 and other ferocious animals is not good. Even when
served, the king and these things can never be friends to anybody.”
Snake-charming* was practised, as even now. The power of the snake-
charmer over the snake supplies a very characteristic analogy : ** The minister
masters the king by the force of mantra (charm or counsels), just as the snake-
charmer subdues the snake.”
Of the above extracts, four come from a single chapter, that on the general
rules of morality. As all the references are but casual, they indicate the
enormous impression made by venomous snakes on the general thought of the
people.
The same topic about the natural or ingrained maleficence of snakes is
harped on in the following verses : 11 Instructions to foolish people are the
causes of their anger, not pleasure; just as the drinking of water by snakes*
is for the making of poison, not of nectar.”
Sukra authors have recorded the tradition of gems being borne on the
heads of snakes. “ The gem on the head of the snake* is the best of all, of very
great splendour, but very rare. Snakes 1 are also said to constitute one of the
sources of pearls. The real explanation of the popular idea has been given in
the chapter on mineralogy. The snakes have to pick up bright stones in their
mouths when they move about in the dark. These stones are their lamps, so
to speak, and serve the purpose of pointing out their paths.
The snake has contributed one battle-formation named after itself. The
vydla or snake array 6 should be devised by the commander when the danger
is on all sides. It looks like the snake. 1
Further references to snakes are given below : —
(i) As an ordeal or divya : The accused has to swallow poison or catch
the poisonous snake* by the hand ; and if he gets scot free, his innocence
is proved; otherwise not.
(a) The earth swallows the king who does not fight, and the Brahman
who does not go abroad, just as the snake 6 swallows the animals living in the
holes.
(3) One should keep five cubits from the carriage, ten cubits from the
horse, one hundred cubits from the snake, 10 and ten cubits from the bull.
1 Sukra III, 518-19. ~
•SukraIII, 501-02.
•Sukra IV, i, 37-88.
4 Sukra IV, ii. 96.
‘Sukra IV, ii, 117-118.
"Sukra IV, vii, 529-81.
T Sukra IV, vii, 565.
• Sukra IV, v, 478.
" Sukra IV, vii, 604-6.
10 Sukra III, 281-2.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 255 )
Section 8.
Pisces in Sulcrantti.
Fishes and Fish life are well-known to Sukra authors. Fishing and angling
must have been familiar practices. Thus one of the illustrations in Sukranlti
about the bad effects of the inclination to satisfy the sense of taste, one of the
classical vyasanas or vices, is drawn from angling: “The fish, 1 though it dives
into unfathomed depths and lives in distant abodes, tastes the angle with meat
for death.” The fish is thus the object lesson for the danger from rasa or taste.
This fact has been recorded again : 14 The deer, the elephant, the fly, the bee,
and the fish*—these five are ruined through sound, touch, form, smell and
taste respectively.”
Fish-eating 5 is also known ; but it is described as a local custom confined
to tnadhyadesa. The limits of the country indicated by it have been discussed in
the chapter on Geography. It has been suggested that the ideal advocated or
•norm’ represented by the Sukra authors is one of vegetarianism, fish-eating
being something abnormal. It has to be noted that in Sukranlti there is no
mention of fishermen as a class, 4 fishing as a kalft, or realisation of revenue
from that industry. It may be surmised that it is not one of the state-recognised
occupations of the country according to Sukranlti, the people among whom or
for whom it was compiled being generally abstemious in the matter of fish and
meat diet.
Fishes are known to be sources of pearls. 1
Like the tiger, the fish also supplied an emblem of kings. In the Tamil
classic, Epic of the Anklet, (2nd cent. A.D.) 41 there are a number of refer¬
ences throughout the work to the erecting of the fish-emblem 8 on the
Himalayas. * * * These achievements are clearly ascribed to the reigning
Pandyan in Canto xvii.”
Section 9.
Invertebrates in Sukrantti '.
Sukranlti is not so rich in observations regarding habits, habitats and
organs, &c., of invertebrates as of vertebrates, especially Aves and Reptiles.
Conches belonging to the Afollusca class of Invertebrates are very impor¬
tant in Hindu religious ceremonies. The notes produced by blowing the
shells of these molluscs with the mouth are integral features associated with
auspicious and purificatory occasions. In Sukranlti these are mentioned
together with drums, trumpets, pipes &c., as ware-paraphernalia to indicate by
their sounds, like bugles, the construction of battle-arrays.’ They are also
known to be the sources of pearls," like snakes, fishes, &c. Their colour is
1 Sukra I, 209*210.
• Sukra III, 88-84.
* Sukra IV, v, 96-98.
♦ Spkra l!» 890-4U,
* Sukra IV, ii, 117-118.
* Aiyangar’s Ancient India . p. 858.
T Sukra II, 402-8.
* Sukra IV, il, 117-118.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 256 )
characteristic. The teeth of horses 1 acquire this colour from the twenty-first
year.
Vardtis or cowries are also smaller species of the same order important
in Indian economic life as a form of what is technically called 14 money.” These
are the lowest coins for the standard of value and medium of exchange. They
are mentioned in Sukraniti only in connection with currency,* as indicating its
unit.
A third species, belonging to the Mollusca, mentioned in Sukraniti, is known
to be the most prolific source of pearls. It is the oyster-shells. 5 It is the
pearls derived from these shells that are used in ornaments, for these alone
can be bored or pierced. 4
Besides molluscs, the Sukra authors have referred to several tiny insects
belonging to the Invertebrata. Like the fish, the fly* is an object lesson for one of
the six vyasanas or vices of Hindu Ethics. 44 The fly gets death by falling sud¬
denly into the lamp, because of its mad passion through gratification of eyes by the
light of the wick in a mild lamp.” The danger of men from pleasures of rupa
or sight is thus illustrated by the case of the fly. Similarly, the bee* illustrates
the danger from gandha or smell. 11 The bee which has the power of # cutting
holes, and can fly with wings, gets, however, caught within a lotus because of
its desire for smell.” This lecture on the necessity for the control of the
senses and the practice of self-restraint is repeated in the chapter on General
Rules of morality: 41 The antelope, the elephant, the fly, the bee and the
fish—these five are ruined through sound, touch, form, smell and taste res¬
pectively.” So one should duly enjoy these things with restraint.
Another characteristic of bees has been recorded. At the very sight of
poisoned food bees* begin to hum. This supplies a very good test for the
detection of poisons, and is utilised by toxicologists.
Ants and worms have been referred to in Sukraniti—generically to
indicate the meanest and minutest creatures of the animal world in the lines
describing the ideal of ahimsd or charity, mercy and philanthropy that people
should hold before themselves* 44 One should serve as far as possible people
who are out of employment, who are diseased, and who are aggrieved ; should
always look upon even ants and worms* as oneself; and even if the enemy be
harmful, should be doing good to him.”
Section io.
Agricultural Live-stock in Sukraniti.
We have mentioned above that the Ungulates of the Vertebrate kingdom
supply all the more important animals of domestic, social, and economic life. In
1 Sukra IV, yii, 821-24. * Sukra I, 207-8.
* 8ukra IV, i, 284. * Sukra I, 211-12.
• Sukra IV, ii, 117-118. T Sukra III, 88-84.
4 Sukra IV, ii, 128. ' Sukra 1, 854-687*
• Sukra III, 20-22,
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 257 )
this section we propose to deal with the animals specially useful in agriculture.
Such animals are (i) Bulls and bullocks, (a) Cows, (3) Buffaloes, both male and
female, ( 4 ) Sheep, (5) Guats, (6) Horses and ponies, (7) Mules and donkeys,
(8) Camels. 1 We have already disposed of sheep and goats in a previous
section; and, as in Sukrantti, camels and horses are put specially to military
purposes, we reserve their treatment for a subsequent section. Bulls also have
been mentioned as draught cattle for the military establishment, but their
importance in agriculture and ordinary conveyance is, however, well-known.
We proceed, therefore, to cull from Sukrantti all references to cattle, ploughs,
carts, &c., that have any bearing on agriculture.
Both agriculture and pasture are included in the list of topics dealt with
in the science of Vdrtd , which coincides more or less with the modern science
or art of Economics. 11 In Vdrtd • are treated interest, agriculture, commerce
and preservation of cows.” As Vftrta is a branch of learning recognised in the
curriculum of studies for princes, we may take it that matters connected with
veterinary science, agricultural live-stock, entomology, &c, such as they were,
had to be studied by persons who were called upon to rule over the destinies of
mankind.
The cattle, however, affect the people more than princes. In Sukrantti
we therefore have references to agriculture and the breeds of animals employed
in it, specially in connexion with the activities of the people. Sukrftch&ryya
has described the tending of cattle and cultivation of lands as two of the
occupations of Vaiiyas, 9 and the driving of plough as one of the occupations
of Sudras. 4 It is difficult to see the difference between cultivation of lands and
drawing of ploughs, unless the former implies supervision or high class
intellectual work in connexion with agriculture, and the latter purely mechanical,
manual work. Whether Vaisya or Sudra, the cultivator certainly forms an
important member of SukrAchdryya’s social system with his own customs,
rites, traditions. It is, therefore, definitely laid down as a juristic principle that
41 The cultivators should have their disputes 1 decided according to the usages
of their own guild, Ac.” And the drawing of ploughs is a kalfl. 9
What would be called 41 Simple Co-operation ”<in modern phraseology is
indicated in the following rule regarding agricultural life : 41 The women should
be assistants 1 in the functions of males, viz^ agriculture, Ac.*’ We have here
a maxim of the Cottage Industry System rendered natural through the
organisation of the Joint-Family.
The o/ily reference to the use of cattle in agriculture is in the lines, on the
authority of Manu, describing the resort of Brahmanas to this occupation under
certain conditions. 9 The conditions are that Brahmans must have 16 animals
1 In the Panjab, Sind, and Western Rajpntana camels are largely used for agricultural
purposes instead of bullocks.
» Sukra I, 311-12. * Sukra IV, v, 86-83.
• Sukra I, 88-84. See also IV, Hi, 84. * Sukra IV, iii, 188.
4 Sukra 1, 86-3. T 8ukra IV, iv, 64.
• Sukra IV, Hi, 87-40,
88
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 258 )
lo their ploughs. Ksatriyas, when they take to agriculture, should have 12 cows.
The normal number, that for Vaisyas is 8. The Sudras may have 4 cows
and the Antyajas 2 only. The difference in the number of cattle to be employed
for the same work according to the caste of the worker, seems to have been
justified in those days by the idea that, in the case of those whose normal
occupations were non-agricultural, e. Brahmanas and Ksatriyas, agriculture
should be looked upon when they do take to it, as an dpaddharma; and as
they are not used to it, they should have as helpmates a larger number of cattle
to relieve them of the physical strain than those whose ordinary occupation
being manual does not require the extraneous help. The authority of Manu
and other sages has been invoked to prove the legitimacy of agriculture being
an occupation of Brahmanas.
The conditions of good cattle are indicated in the following line:
“ The cow 1 with good horns and fine colour, which gives plenty of sweet
milk, and has good calves has very high value, whether young, small or large.”
The prices are given below :
(1) A good cow costs Rs. 8, #>., twice the price of a she-goat,*
(2) The high price for cows is, however, Rs. 64, or Rs. 80.
(3) The high price of a buffalo 9 is the same as that of the cow or one
and a half times that, i>„ Rs. 64 or 80, or 96 or 120.
(4) The high price for she-buffaloes* is Rs. 56 or Rs. 64, lower than
that for the male cattle.
The revenue* from agricultural cattle is realised at the following rates :
(1) One-eighth of the increase of cows and buffaloes.
(2) One-sixteenth of the milk of she-buffaloes.
The milk* should never be received by the king for his own kith and kin.
Carts have been referred to—not, however, in connection with agricultural
purposes, but with the military establishment. But ordinary carts are implied
in the following proverbs 1 “It is better to be poor first* and rich afterwards,
just as it is,better to be a pedestrian first and go in a vehicle afterwards.” Also,
u Pedestrianism is better than using bad vehicles.”*
We have just noticed that only the cow has been specifically mentioned in
Sukranlti as the agricultural live-stock. But much information on this head is
not available from it. It requires to be noted, however, that the Sukra authors
represent one of those stages in the history of Hindu national sentiment which
gave' concrete shape to the idea of the cow as a divinity. Thus as one
1 Sukra IV, ii, 186-187. 4 Sukra IV, ii, 196,
* Sukra IV, ii, 188-189. ‘ Sukra IV, ii, 239-240.
»Sukra IV, ii, 193. • Sukra IV, ii, 258-64.
* Sukra III, 569-70.
» Sukra 111, 572-8. See also the references to carts drawn by horses as the convey¬
ances of commanders and governors, V, 162-9,
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 259 )
of the most justifiable “ grounds for war/' according to the principles of Interna¬
tional Law advocated by SukrAchdryya, we read what may be compared
with the cry of SivAji, the great Hindu monarch of the 17th century:
“ There are no rules about the proper or opportune time and season for
warfare in cases created by the killing of cows, 1 women, and Brahmanas.”
The physical considerations of time, place &c», must not weigh when the
most vulnerable point of national honour and feeling has been touched by the
adversary.
It may be possible to find out the age of Sukraniti from the history of
this “ Doctrine of the Divinity and Inviolability of the Cow” as a corner¬
stone of Hindu socio-religious system. The work must be attributed to a
period not preceding the advent of the Musalmans, with their alien creed as a
formidable rival to contest the sovereignty of the land with the people of Hin¬
dustan.
It may be interesting to add here that in the western countries also
thinkers have been gradually coming to appreciate the Cow-cult in their
own way. Thus to quote from the Encyclopedia Britannica (Article on Dairy):
11 If civilised people were ever to lapse into the worship of animals, the
Cow would certainly be their chief goddess. What a fountain of blessings is
the cow 1 She is the mother of beef, the source of butter, the original cause of
cheese, to say nothing of shoe-horns, hair-combs and upper leather. A gentle,
amiable, ever-yielding creature, who has no joy in her family affairs which she
does not share with man. We rob her of her children that we may rob her of
her milk, and we only care for her when the robbing may be perpetrated.”
Section u.
Economic Zoology in SukranUi .
The various references in which the Fauna have been mentioned by
Sukra authors must have given us an idea of the uses which their country¬
men made of the animal world. The importance of animals in military life
will be dealt with in the next section. In the meanwhile, we shall mention the
odds and ends of the economic zoology of SukrAchAryya that cannot be covered
by all these.
Of course milk is one of the most important products of the animal world.
Among the 64 katas we have two connected with this, via., milking* and churn¬
ing. Similarly, ghee is also mentioned in Sukraniti as an article of great econo¬
mic importance. One of the important items of State Interference in Indian
Industry and Commerce seems to have been the prevention of Adulteration of
Foodstuffs. We find even SukrAch&ryya combatting this evil.* The regulation
is given in the following lines : “ Falsehoods* must not be practised by any one
with regard to ghee, honey, milk, fat, &c.” SukrAchAryya’s state is a guardian
* Sukra IV, yil, 453. * Sukra IV, ii, 182.
* See the articles on Adulteration and Dairy in Encyclopedia Britannica .
4 Sukra 1,580-1
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 260 )
of the people’s health and wealth, according to what Sidgwick would call
the 41 Socialistic principle.”
Not these innocent industries only—but even the more cruel and untouch¬
able ones are noticed in Sukranlti. Thus, in addition to the above two katas,
we have three more connected with animal life in the list of 64 arts:
(1) Softening of leathers. 1
(a) Flaying of skins from the bodies of beasts.*
(3) Extraction of oil from flesh (fats).*
It is to be understood, as a matter of course, that the chemical and
mechanical processes allied or auxiliary to the above industries must also have
been well-known.
Commerce and Industry in leather must have been important enough.
We do not find any reference to fishermen as a class or fishing as an occupation,
as we have already noted. But we read of bird-catchers and leather merchants*
among other classes of persons who deserve state encouragement.
And at least one product of the leather-industry was in universal demand,
shoes. Thus, among the general rules of morality to be observed by
both people and princes, we have the following : 44 One should always bear
medicinal substances in jewels, &c., consecrated by mantras, have umbrellas
and shoes, 1 and walk in the streets with eyes fixed on the straight path
only.” Here we have the ideal of material life that a gentleman of the
Sukra-days was expected to follow; and shoes form an item in what would
have been regarded as the 4 proper* or decent dress of a householder. That
the use of shoes was common enough would be evident from the following
happy adage of Sukr&ch&ryya also : 41 It is better to cover feet with shoes 9
than try to cover the whole earth with leather.”
Flesh or meat as a diet is known to the Sukra authors, but, like fishing,
eating it is a purely local custom confined to the artisans and artists of Madhya-
desa. v
Worms and Insects* as destroyers of grains are known to Sukra authors.
They have advised the king not to accumulate for future use those that have
been thus attacked by pests. Information, however, is not copious.
Dr. Rdjendratal has pointed out in his Essay on Dress and Ornament in
Ancient India that, among the presents brought by princes and potentates of
various parts of India to king Yudhisthira, referred to in the Sabltaparva of the
Mahdbhdrata , various skins are mentioned. The skins of animals that lie in
holes, and of wild cats, />., the furs of varieties of martin and weasel families, were
brought by the Kambojasof the Hindu Kush ; Blankets by the Abhiras of Gujrat 5
» Sukra IV, ill, 180.
• Sukra IV, ili, 18 U
• Sukra IV, ili, 187.
4 Sukra II, 409-407.
Sukra III, 8-9.
Sukra III, 574.
Sukra IV, v, 9-495.
Sukra IV, iii, 50-57.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 261 )
Clothes of the wool of sheep and goats or thread spun by worms (silks) by the
Scythians, TukhAras and Kankas; housings for elephants by princes of the
Eastern tribes, lower Bengal, Midnapur, and Ganjam. Pacini also, has not only
given words for wool, cotton, weaving, cloth, turbans, sewing, &c., but also for
gives a special rule (IV, iii, 42). Woollen stufls and furs as well as silks are
silk for which he mentioned by VAlmiki among the constituents of SitA’s
trousseau (RAmAyana, 1 , 74). It may also be added that animal products, e.g, t
the hair of Yak, Gour, Gayal and other bovine animals living in hills were used
in the manufacture of one species of chdmaras , or fly-flappers, described in the
Yukti kalpataru as one of the most important insignia of royalty. Some idea of
Economic Zoology may be formed from the fact that the author mentions the
Meru, Himalaya, Kailasa, Malaya, Vindhya, Gandhamadana and other moun¬
tains as the habitats oftheanimals yielding the requisite hairs of various kinds.
Dr. Rajendralal has described some of the shoes and boots in Hindu India
in his lndo~Aryans. We know the tender story of Bharata’s placing a pair of
Rama's slippers on the vacant throne of Ayodhya to officiate for him during his
exile. Mediaeval Sanskrit authors allude to them pretty frequently. The
Visnu Pur&na enjoins all who wish to protect their person never to be with¬
out leather shoes. Manu forbids the use of others’ shoes (IV, 66), as Sukra
considers the use of others’ gold and jewels, &c., as a chhala or social offence.
The PurAnas recommend the use of shoes in thorny places and on hot sand.
Arrian notices the Indian shoes made of white leather, which, according to the
description given, maybe identified with the Uriya shoes of to-day. According
to Mitra the material for these boots and shoes was bovine leather, and even
the hide of sacrificed cattle. AswalAyana quotes SAnvatya (IV, ix, 24) to men¬
tion the fact that the hide of cattle sacrificed in Sulgava ceremony is fit to be
converted into shoes and other useful articles. So also hog-skin is a fit
material for shoes according to a Vedic verse quoted by Savara SwAmi in his
commentary on the MimAmsa aphorisms. R&jendralal also mentions leather
bottles, leather jars (dritts in Manu), leather straps, strings and bands, leather
sails, &c.
The following extract from Mr. Law’s Hindu Polity based on the Artha-
sAstra of Kautilya would give an idea of the Economic Entomology or agricultural
Zoology of the Hindus in the 4th cent. B. C. 14 It should be remarked that mea¬
sures for the extermination of pests were also undertaken by Government. These
pests generally included rats, locusts, injurious birds and insects and tigers.
To destroy rats, cats and mungooses were let loose ; some varieties of poison
were also used for the purpose. To kill tigers, several kinds of posion were
in use.”
On the strength of evidences from Tamil sources bearing on South Indian
life of the early Christian era, Aiyangar says 1 : “ Among the woollens we find
mention of manufactures from the wool of rats which was regarded as parti¬
cularly warm. There are 30 varieties of silks mentioned, each with a
1 Ancient India p. 66.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 262 )
distinctive appellation of its own, as distinguished from the imported silks of
China which had a separate name.”
Marco Polo (1792 A.D.) describes Cambay as a port with 11 great trade in
hides, which are very well-dressed.”
According to the Dharma Sutra of Baudhayana (i. 2.4), traffic in wool and
in animals with two rows of teeth (horses, mules, &c.) is a forbidden practice
in the Dravidian districts,—the locale of this work according to Buhler,—but is
common among the ‘‘Northerners” (*.*., Western and North-western India,
according to the geographical terminology of those days recorded by Hiuen
Thsang also).
The following extract from the History of Indian Shipping pp. 77-78
relates to the traffic in animals in ancient times: ” Lastly, there are several
other Jdlakas in which we are told explicitly of a successful, if sporadic, deal
in birds between Babylon and Benares, and of horses imported by hundreds
from the North and from Sindh.” The author quotes Tandulanali JAtoka ,
Suhanu Jdtaka , Kundaka-Kucchi-Stndhava-J&taka , Bhojajanuy a-Jdtaka and
Ajanna Jdtaka and also Mrs. Rhys Davids’ articles in Economic Journal and
J. R. A. S. for 1901. In the days of Solomon also Indian peacocks, &c., found
customers in Syria.
Prof. Mookerji quotes the Baveru-J&taka and the opinions of Buhler, Rhys
Davids and Kennedy to show that peacocks were first taken to Babylon by
Indian sea-going merchants in the 6th cent. B.C.
Section 12.
The Animal Corps in Sukranitu
Horses, elephants, camels and bulls constitute the animal-corps of the*
Sukra state. The general rule about the relative proportion of these animals
in the army is given in the following line : “The king should have in the army
a predominance of footsoldiers, a medium quantity of horse, a small quantity of
elephant force, equal number of bulls and camels, but never elephants in excess.”
This is stated more definitely as follows:*
Infantry should be 4 times horse.
Bulls „ j „
Camels ,« J ,,
Elephants „ ^ „
Thus the number of elephants is to be the smallest, the bulls and camels
may be equal in amount or differ as J or J of horse.
The idea of Sukra statesmen is clearly known from the*statement of the
constituents of the Army in a state whose annual income is Rs. 1,00,000. The
ruler of such a state* is advised to have
(1) 80 horses. (3) 2 elephants.
(2) 10 camels. (*) 16 bulls.
, gukra Iv ^ 4 ^ 6 * Sukra IV, vii, 41.
* Sakra IV, vii, 47-61
Digitized by L^ooQle
( m )
The budget of expenses on the military live-stock of this “unit 99 of politi¬
cal life is explicitly stated to be as follows
(1) Horse (and Foot) ... ... ... Rs. 48,000 per year.
(2) Elephants, Camels, Bulls (and Fire-arms)... „ 4.800
Total Rs. ... 52,800
The importance of the department of live-stock to the state would be
evident from the fact that, together with (i) the Infantry and (2) the Fire-arms
and other accessories, e.g., chariots, carts, &c., the horses, elephants, camels and
bulls constitute more than half of the permanent charges upon the finances
of the kingdom. It is clear, therefore, that all Hindu financiers and statesmen,
as well as rulers must have made themselves thoroughly well-grounded in the
knowledge of habits, habitat, feelings, rations, stabling, embryology, anatomy,
external characteristics, health, prices, classes, measurements, mettle, &c., of the
live-stock. It is this which explains the abundance of Zoological lore among
the Hindus, and the production by their scholars of works on economic zoo¬
logy, veterinary science, physiology, &c., dealing with all the theoretical and
practical or scientific and utilitarian aspects of Indian Fauna.
Besides the purely military uses of these animals, Sukranlti records some
other uses also. The following reference to the animal-force indicates non¬
military as well as military uses: “The elephant, 1 the camel, the bull, the
horse are excellent beasts of burden in the descending order. Carriages are
the best of all conveyances except in the rainy season.”
The use of horses for purposes of conveyance is further referred to
in what looks like modern “horse-allowances” described in the following
lines: “ (1) The master of 10 villages, and the commander of 100 troops should
travel on horseback with attendants; (2) The master of one village also should
be a horseman ; (3) The commander of 1,000 troops and the ruler of 100
villages should each have the conveyance of a chariot or cart and a horse, and
10 armed attendants should travel on horseback. (4) The ruler of 1,000 villages
should always travel in vehicles carried by men or two horses. (5) The ruler
of 10,000 villages can use all vehicles and four horses.”
The use of elephants, also, as conveyance is granted to the “dignified
parts *' of the state : “ The commander of 10,000 troops should travel on an
elephant 9 with 20 attendants.”
The references to carts or carriages drawn by horses should be noted.
Horse-Sacrifices have also been incidentally mentioned in Sukranlti.
“ Can virtue that is begotten of akwamedha* come out of mere recital of hymns ?
So also, can the virtue arising from mercy come out of punishments ?” The
analogy is quite worthless, however. The horse to be used in the sacrifice
would perhaps be called Sy&makarna* according to the taxonomy in Sukranlti.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 852-68.
* Sukra V, 162-188.
> Sukra V, 167 ,
4 Sukra IV, i, 108-9.
‘ Sukra IV, vii, 221-22.
* Sukra I, 622,
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 264 )
So also the religious ceremony in connexion with the tUsmrga or letting out
or consecration of bulls is referred to. There is a law of the land regulating
the people's action with regard to the custom t “ Those who have let out bulls
and other animals (after religious observances) must keep them within proper
control"; #>., the animals must not be allowed to destroy public property or
cause damages to the interests of the citizens.
The following is a general rule of morality to be observed by pedestrians
while walking, and indicates the degree of danger that is to be feared from the
animals: "One should keep 5 cubits from the carriage, 10 cubits from the
horse, 1 100 cubits from the snake, and 10 cubits from the bull.**
Like the goats, the bulls are also known to Sukra authors to be stupid
animals. Thus those kings are almost like oxen* (i>., fools) by whom their
strength (army) is not increased, by whom princes are not made to pay tribute,
and by whom subjects are not well-protected.
The elephant has left its deep mark on Hindu thought. Both Literature
and Fine arts of the Hindus have preserved the most characteristic representa¬
tions of this animal's internal and external features The rut gushing out of
the elephant is a conventional symbol with Hindu poets tor the excitement of
passion in both physical and moral worlds. The havoc created by the animal
in fury has also been the theme of many a noble specimen of Hindu sculpture
and literature.
The moral lessons illustrated by the Sukra authors from the habits of this
animal are given below: —
(1) 'There is a complete analogy between the processes of training
elephants and the senses of man. 41 One should bring to bay or discipline, by
the hook of knowledge, the elephant* of the senses which is running to and
fro in a destructive manner in the V2st forest of enjoyable things." This simile
about wild and unbroken elephants is one of the most common devices in
Sanskrit literature.
(2) The elephant is the object lesson, among other things, of the danger
from the weakness of Touch-enjoyment: 44 The elephant 4 whose stature is
like the peak of a mountain and who can uproot trees with ease, is, however,
caught, because of the pleasure of contact with the female." This is expressed
again, in the following : 44 The antelope, the elephant,* the fly, the bee, and
the fish—these five are ruined through sound, touch, form, smell and taste."
Two professions have been incidentally noticed here, e,g. t those of catch¬
ing and training the elephants.
The elephant is known to be proverbially huge and strong. “It is only
the powerful elephant, 9 that can extricate an elephant from the mud. So
also, it is a king who can deliver a king who has gone astray.” Again, “The
elephant* cannot be bound by thousands of bales of cotton."
‘ 1 Sukra III, 2812 * Sukra I, 205-6.
* Sukra I, 249-60. * Sukra Ill, 38-84.
1 Sukra 1,198-94. 1 Sukra IV, vii, 884-85.
•Sukra TV, vii, 888,
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But the elephant is no match for the lion : 11 Just as even the tiger and
the elephant 1 cannot govern the lion—the king of beasts—so all the councillors
combined are unable to control the king, who acts at his own sweet will*”
We have already referred to the use of elephants as conveyance granted
to the very high officials of the state. It is also advised that '* the king should
tour the city on the back of an elephant,* in order to please the people.”
Section 13.
Horses.
(a) External Anatomy.
The anatomy and external characteristics of horses were very minutely
studied. The fact that the Hindus laid down mathematically accurate rules
for the artists to follow and demanded of them a strictly religious observance
of those rules presupposes, and is an evidence in favour of, the view that they
were past masters in anatomical surveys of the human and animal bodies. To
those who would construct the images of horses, Sukracharyya’3 advice is:
“ If an image is to be made, the appropriate pattern or model should be always
placed in front. No image can be made without a model. So the artist should
frame the limbs after meditating on the horse 5 and finding out the measure¬
ments and attributes of horses in the manner indicated above.” “ In horses
all limbs are made according to a certain proportion with the face.”
The measurements of horses’ limbs given by Sukr&ch&ryya will be
explained in the section on the anatomy of the vertebrates.
(b) Mettie and Worth.
The appreciation of horses and their classification according to merit
depend on the consideration of the following circumstances, both zoological and
economic: (1) measurements of limbs, (2) certain general aspects and physiog¬
nomical features, and (3) marks on the animal’s body, *.£., feather-rings, &c.,
which are known to be auspicious or inauspicious, also (4) the place from which
they come. But this last has not been described in Sukraniti.*
According to the measurements of limbs, we get the following tradition re¬
corded by Sukra authors:
(1) The best horse 1 has a face of 24 angulas or inches.
(a) The good „ „ 36 „
(3) The medium „ „ 3a .
(4) The inferior „ „ a8 „ „ „
[N. B— 5 yavas—1 angula, according to Sukra.]
84
* Sukra IV, vii, 880-81. » Sukra IV, vii, 146-8.
* Sukra I, 744. 4 Vide Law's Hindu Polity , p. 86.
•Sukra IV, vii, 86^9.
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The limbs which are to have a fixed proportion with the face should have
the following measurements:
(1) Stature 1 is to be 3 times face.
(2) Length „ 4} „
(3) Girth or Circumference of belly 3 times face+3 angulas.
The measurements given by Sukrftcharyya differ from those given in
Ch&Qakya's Arthas&stra ,* as well as in Aswavaidyaka . 5
The classification of horses, according to general physiognomical features,
has been elaborately treated under 50 heads by Jayadatta in the third chapter of
his Aswavaidyaka. In his notes on this chapter, Pandit Umeshchandra Gupta
has quoted passages from Nakula's veterinary science, Agnipurana , Brihal
Saiphitd , Hdrdvali , Antarakoka , and Hemachandra, but specially from Sukranltx .
The extracts show similarity as well as divergence of ideas on the subject.
The general characteristics of horses regarding features, colour, gait, &c ,
appreciated by Sukra authors are indicated below
(1) That horse is beautiful 4 which has a high neck and a low back.
(2) The horse 1 with divine attributes, or excellent horse is that which
has a beardless face, beautiful, smart and high nose, long and high neck, short
belly, heels and ears, very swift speed, voice like the cloud and the gander
or swan, is neither wicked nor very mild, has good form or colour and beauti¬
ful circular rings ol feather.
(3) The following horses are disparaged:
(i) those with black legs, or with one white leg,*
(ii) those rough, grey-coloured or ash-coloured , 1
(iii) those with black roof of mouth, black tongues, black lips; or
throughout black but with a white tail,
(iv) those with one white mark on the forehead, but throughout colour¬
ed otherwise—(called Dalabhanjt \*
(v) those that throw kicks, make sounds with lips, shake their backs,
tend to go down into water, suddenly stop in the midst of a
movement, lie down on the back, move backwards and leap up, 9
(vi) those that have snake-like tongues, the colour of bears and are
timid in character, 9
(vii) those with marks on the forehead disfigured by a minute blot (of
another colour),*
(viii) those which tear asunder the ropes* (cf. IV, vii, 217).
1 Sukra IV, vii, 91-95. * See Law’s Hindu Polity, p. 88.
• Chapter III, 181-188, published in the Bibliotheca Indica Series.
4 Sukra IV, vii, 144. 7 Sukra IV, vii, 226-28.
• Sukra IV, vii, 149-58. 4 Sukra IV, vii, 284-115.
• Sukra IV, vii, 225. * Sukra IV, vii, 828-81.
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(4) Defects of colour (whether one or variegated) are not considered, if
the form be beautiful. 1
(5) So also the presence of bad hair-marks on the body is not minded
if the animal is strong, has a good gait, is well-formed, and not wicked.*
(6) The following movements of horses are appreciated:*
(i) with legs thrown from a height,
(ii) gait like those of tigers, peacocks, ducks, parrots, pigeons or doves,
deer, camels, monkeys and bulls. Aswavaidyaka also bears this
out.
(7) One of the most practical tests of good horses is given by Sukra ;
thus, if the horseman does not get tired by riding a horse even after over-feed¬
ing and over-drinking, the gait of the horse is known to be excellent.*
The value of horses in terms of money, i>„ their prices, according to
Sukra authorities, are given below : —
(1) The high prices for horses and elephants is 2000, 3000 or 4000.
Now a silver pala=8 tolas or rupees. Therefore, the price is 16,000, 24,000,
32,000 rupees. This seems to be extraordinary, especially from the following
estimation of the best horse. Hence, the figures 2,000,3,000, 4,000, are to be
taken to indicate not palas , but silver tolas or rupees.
(2) The best horse is that which can go 100 yojanas (500 or 700 miles)
a day. Its price is 500 gold (coins) 1. e., Rs. 8,000.
The price of horses according to Sukra Statistics would, therefore,
normally range from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 8,000.
(c) Omens .
The third consideration which weighs much in the valuation of breeds
of horses is the presence or absence of ringlets, curly-feathers, hair-marks,
pimples &c on the body of the animal. These have been described thoroughly
with all their significance in LXVI and XCII 1 chapters of Brihat SamMi/a, as
well as the chapter on marks in Aswavaidyaka previously referred to.
According to the Hindus the marks are good or bad omens, 1 and may be
interpreted to indicate the character, qualifications, disposition, as well as
future social or economic condition of men over whose bodies they appear.
The science of omens relates to the animals also, and what is more, foretells
adversity or prosperity of their masters. It is natural, therefore, that the sub¬
ject was minutely studied in those days. Thus Vardhamihira begins his
discourse on omens 6 with a short historical treatment of the science:
u Risabha has written a treatise on omens embodying the views of the
1 Sukra IV, vii, 224, 238-87. • Sukra IV, vii, 229-81.
• Sukra IV, vii, 288. 4 Sukra IV, vii, 282-88.
* Var&hamihira has dealt with this topie in LV. of Brihat SamhitA,
• Sukra IV, vi, Brihat Samhitt, LXXXVI, 1-4.
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gods Sukra, Indra, Brihaspati, Kapisthala, and Garuda, and of the Risis Bha-
guri, Devala and others. Sri Devavardhana, the Maharaja of Awanti (Ujjayinl)
has written a treatise on omens, embodying the views of Bharadwaja. There
are also treatises on omens by the seven Risis. Numerous treatises are also
found on the subject written in ancient and modern languages. Then there are
the treatises of Garga and others who have written works on Samhita. There
are also treatises by writers who have written on Yatra. Having examined all
the above treatises, I proceed to write clearly this brief treatise on omens for
the enlightenment of my pupils.”
Our author has been referred to by Varahamihira as an authority in
the above bibliography. It appears Sukracharyya was a founder of this
science. Sukraniti is perhaps the most elaborate of Niti-or Dharma-or
Arthas&stras in the treatment of the subject, as would be evident from the
references given below. It should be mentioned that the Sukra authors, Vara¬
hamihira, Nakula and Jayadatta do not all agree in the valuation or enumeration
of the marks or omens connected with the features of horses.
The bhratnaras or dvartas , i>„ marks on the horses’ body consisting of
feather-curls or hairy growths may be (i) circular—like ringlets, or (a) of any
shape and size, as indicated by the following substances :* Conch, wheel, mace,
lotus, altar, seat of meditation, palace, gate, bow, pitcher full of water, white
mustard seeds, garland, fish, dagger and Srivatsa gem.
These 16 are known to be auspicious signs. As for the circular ones,
their significance, good or evil, is to be known from the following general
rules:
(1) These may be (i) leftwards or rightwards, (ii) full or partial, (iii) small
or large.*
(2) In the female horse, the leftward or anti-clockwise ring is auspicious;
in the male the rightward or clockwise. 8
(3) The results vary also with the directions in which they are formed,
e.g. t downwards, upwards or oblique ; 4 thus on the leg the downward mark is
good, on the forehead the upward. 1
These general remarks on hairy growths, whether circular or shaped like
the objects enumerated above, have been the basis of a classification of horses
according to merit. This is dwelt on more elaborately as below :
(1) Excellent horses 8 are those that have these marks on (i) nose-tip, (ii)
forehead, (iii) throat, (iv) head.
(2) Good or Middling 1 horses are those that have such marks on (i)
breast, (ii) neck, (iii) shoulder, (iv) waist, (v) navel, (vi) belly, (vii) front of the
1 811 km IV, vi, 150-11. 4 Sukra IV, vii, 158.
* Sukra IV, ii, 154-65. * Sukra IV, vii, 212.
8 Sukra IV, vii, 156-67. * Sukra IV. vii, 162-168.
T Sukra IV, vii, 164-5, 208-05, There is a repetition of-waist and sides in the two
references,
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sides, (viii) back, (ix) lower lip, (x) space between ear and eye, (xi) thighs, (xii)
forelegs.
(3) B&d horses 1 are those that have marks on (i) eyes, (ii) jaws, (iii)
cheeks, (iv) breast, (v) upper lip, (vi) kidney, (vii) knee, (viii) genital organ, (ix)
hump of the back, (x) right waist, (xi) right foot.
A few more good and bad marks are enumerated below
(a) Good :
(i) If two marks are noticed on the cheeks of a horse, they lead to
the increase of the master’s fame and territory.*
(ii) Two marks on the forehead with space between indicate good,
and are like the sun and the moon. If they overlap, they give
medium results.*
(iii) Three marks on the forehead with space between them, one being
on the top, are indicative of good . 4
(iv) One mark in the middle of the throat 1 is very auspicious and
prevents all harms.
(v) On the leg the downward mark is good, on the forehead the
upward . 8
(b) Bad:
(i) The horse that has a mark on the left cheek is wicked and leads
to loss of.wealth.’
(ii) If the horse has marks in the mouth (or face ?) or at the end of
the belly, it is sure to get death or cause ruin of the master . 8
(iii) The marks on knees give troubles of life abroad . 9
(iv) The mark on the genital organ causes loss of 9 victory and beauty.
(v) The mark at the end of the vertebral column means total ruin . 9
(vi) If on the forehead two marks be too contiguous, they are inaus¬
picious . 1 0
(vii) Three triangular marks on the forehead are causes of grief . 11
(viii) The mark on the back of the genital organ or on the nipple or near
the ear 18 is bad.
(ix) The horse that has an upward mark 1 * on the leg is disparaged as
the uprooter of posts.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 200-2. 16 has to be noted that there is a contradiction in this
enumeration with that in 102-65 as regards navel, waist and throat.
•Sukra IV, vii, 174-75.
• Sukra IV, vii, 206-7.
4 Sukra IV, vii, 208-0.
• Sukra IV, vii, 211.
• Sukra IV, vii, 212.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 180.
• Sukra IV, vii, 191-2.
• Sukra IV, vii, 198-5.
10 Sukra IV, vii, 207,209.
» Sukra IV, vii, 210.
'* Sukra IV, vii, 214-16.
*• Sukra IV, vii, 217.
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(d ) Breeds .
The artificial taxonomy of horses according to the adventitious marks
on their bodies has created along with it a system of nomenclature also, which,
according to Hindu tradition, again, is a good index to the quality, mettle and
other characteristics of horses, in Sukranlti we have the technical names of
the following classes or breeds :
(1) Purnahar$a l —with two marks on the brow and a third on the
head.
(2) Suryya *—with a mark on the backbone—leads to the increase of
master’s horses.
(3) Trtkuta *—with three marks on the forehead—leads to the increase of
horses.
(4) V&jisa* —with three marks on the neck—is the lord of horses in the
royal stable.
(5) Sarvandma 1 —with only one mark on the cheek—leads to the owner’s
ruin.
(6) Siva 6 —with a mark on the right cheek—leads to the happiness of the
master.
(7) Indra' —with two spots on the ears—gives victory in wars and leads
to happiness.
(8) Vijaya *—with marks on the nipples—gives victory in wars and
leads to happiness.
(9) Padma % —with two marks on the side of the neck—brings several
padmas (Padma«one thousand billions) of wealth as well as unceasing happiness
to the master.
( 10) Bhupdla 10 or Chakravarti —with one or three marks on the nose.
(11) Chintdmani' with one large markon the throat—leads to the
realisation of the desired objects.
(12) Sulka 1 *—with marks on the forehead and the throat—gives increase
and fame.
(13) Dhumaketu 1 *— with a mark at the origin of the tail—is ruinous.
(14) Kritdnia 1 *—with a mark on the rectum, the tail and the end of the
vertebral column.
(15) Ekaraqmi 61 — with a mark on one of the upper sides of the neck.
(16) Panchakalydna 18 —with five white marks on the face and four legs.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 186-7.
• Sukra IV, vii, 168-9.
8 Sukra IV, vii, 170-1.
8 Snkra IV, vii, 172-8.
• Snkra IV, vii, 176-7.
• Sukra IV, vii, 178-79.
• Sukra IV, vii, 181.
• Sukra IV, vii, 182.
9 Sukra IV, vii, 184-6.
10 Sukra IV, vii, 186-7.
11 Sukra IV, vii, 188-9.
*’ Sukra IV, vii, 190.
“ Sukra IV, vii, 196-7.
14 Sukra IV, vii, 198-99.
M Sukra IV, vii, 216.
19 Sukra IV, vii, 219,
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(17) A$tamangala 1 —with the five white marks of PanchakalyAna, and
three more white, e.g, t on the breast, neck and tail.
(18) Sydmakarna*— with one colour throughout the body, but with ears
coloured iydma (#>. greenish, swarthy, &c). If that one colour be white, the
horse is sacred and deserves to be worshipped.
(19) Jayatnangala*— with eyes like vaiduryya gem.
(20) Dalahbanji*— with one very white mark on the forehead, but colour¬
ed otherwise throughout—brings contempt upon the owner.
A classification of animals which has been adopted in the case of elephants
has not been recorded by Sukra authors with reference to the horses. This
has, however, been noticed in the ArthasAstra.* Thus, horses were regarded
as belonging to the three classes or types of tik$na (fiery), bhadra (gentle) and
manda (sluggish).
It is also strange that Sukra authors should have omitted altogether a very
important mode of economic classification of horses, e. g. } that according to their
places of origin. The Aswavaidyaka has devoted a whole chapter 8 to this topic,
called the chapter on jantnadesa or Habitat or Zoological Distribution, as we
would call it in modern times, and deals with the subject under nine heads:
e.g. (1) good horses, (2) second-class horses, ( 3 ) worst-class horses, (4) Tajika
horses, (5) Pdrasika horses, (6) Kekkana horses, (7) Turaska horses, (8)
Bhdndaja horses, (9) Saindhava horses, &c.
The Arthas&stra,* also, mentions the following classes of horses, accord¬
ing to their natural habitats: (1) K&mboja (Afghanistan) (2) Sindhu (Sindh)
(3) Aratta (Punjab, according to Cunningham, p. 215), (4) VanAyn (Arabia),
(5) BAlhika (Balkh), (6) Sauvira (Eder in Guzrat, according to Cunningham, or
Sophir of the Bible), (7) PApeye, (8) Taitala.
Of these places the first four were held to supply the best breed, and
the remaining four the horses of the second quality. Horses of inferior
quality came from other sources.
It may be mentioned here that almost all the places enumerated by
Kautilya have been noted by VAlmlki in the Bdlakdnda of the RAmAyagAm
(Canto VI, 22).
Trade in horses* seems also to have been a feature of South Indian com¬
mercial life in the 1st cent. £.D. Thus in the Periplus we have the description
of Puhar, a port on the East coast, where “ horses were brought from distant
lands on the seas.”
1 Sukra IV, vii, 220 • 8ukra IV, vii, 228.
* Sukra IV, vii, 221-2. 4 Sukra IV, vii, 234-85.
* Law's Hindu Polity p. 88.
' Vide the 8th chapter of the work in the Bibliotheca Indica Series. This throws
much light on the Economic or Commercial Geography of ancient India.
1 Law’s Hindu Polity y pp. 88-87.
* Aiyangar’s HUtory of India , p. 88.
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(e) Training and Management .
Lt. General Sir Fitzwygram deals with the construction and ventilation
of stables, stable fittings, watering and feeding, forage, grooming, shoeing,
exercise, and stable management in part I of his work, 14 Horses and
Stables.” All these topics are the subject-matter of Jayadatta’s Aswavaidyaka
in several chapters, and have been described more or less in all Hindu treatises,
called Arths&stras or Nitis&stras, which have been banded down from at least
the 4th century B.C.
It is, however, only during the last hundred years that, owing to the
“ enormous losses 1 produced by the ignorance of the true origin of disease,
veterinary art has been recognised as second only in its usefulness to the
care of human life.'* * • * ” In the increasing value of domesticated animals
useful to man, and in the greater ravages of disease, as must be the case where
animals, more or less intended to roam at large, are crowded together ; as must
be the case where land increases in value, and where also population increases
in numbers and daily requires larger supplies of food ; in the increasing value
and need of domestic animals, and in their increasing ailments arising from
domestication, modern veterinary science has had its rise.”
The humanity of the Hindus, as displayed in their care for animals since
at least the 6th century B. C.—the epoch of the founders of Buddhism and
Jainism—as well as the progress of their knowledge about animal-life, medical
treatment of the dumb creatures, and the social, economic and political import¬
ance of Fauna, constitutes one more of the solid evidences regarding the
great advance of the people of Hindusthan in spirituality and material civilisa¬
tion, long before the 44 strong Son of God, immortal Love ” flourished under the
4 ‘ Syrian blue.” The unfounded remarks of Western scholars explaining away,
without rhyme or reason, the antiquity of the original achievements of the
Hindus in secular and physical sciences or arts, require, in the light of more
rational and unbiassed investigations which they pretend to monopolise, only
to be mentioned to prove their absurdity. It is strange that sentiments—for
they are no better than sentiments—engendered by race-pride and colour-
prejudice, like the following, expressed in the most categorical fashion and
sweepingly general terms, should find a place in a scientific work like the His¬
tory of Mathematics* published in the first decade of the aoth century
“ The Hindus, like the Chinese, have pretended 5 that they are the most
ancient people on the face of the earth, and that to them all sciences owe their
creation. But it would appear from all recent investigations that these
pretensions * have no foundation ; and in fact no 5 science or useful art (except
a rather fantastic architecture and sculpture) can be traced back to the
inhabitants of the Indian peninsula prior to the Aryan invasion. This invasion
1 Fitzwygram’s Horses and Stables (Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1911), Fifth
Bdition, pp. 612-618.
* By Ball (Macmillan & Co., London, 1908), Fourth Edition, p. 148.
* The Itaics are ours.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 273 )
seems to have taken place in the latter half of the 5th century 1 or in the sixth
century.”
To return to the topics of horse training and management in Suktaniti.
Sukr&ch&ryya says, as we have noted in a previous context: 11 The elephant,
the horse,* the bull, the child, the wife, and the parrot get the qualities of their
teachers through association.” The staff connected with the management of
horses consists of three classes 9 of men : (1) aswddhipati or superintendent of
cavalry, (2) siksaka or trainer, (3) the sevaka or groom. These, together
with other items in the administration of the cavalry, will be treated of in the
section on organisation of the Veterinary Department.
Some general observations 4 regarding forage, exercise, &c for horses are
given below :—
(1) Defects grow in horses through long-continued absence of work. But
through excessive work the horse grows lean and emaciated.
(2) Without bearing burden, the horse becomes unfit for any work.
(3) Without food, the horse becomes sickly, but with excessive feeding,
it contracts disease.
(4) It is the good or bad qualifications of the trainer that give the horse
good or bad gait.
We may compare these practical rules about grooming and training
with those of a modern specialist 1 which apply especially to race-horses in
India :
41 (1) It is most important that the trainer should recognise the fact that he
can greatly increase a horse’s speed by practice.
44 But experience teaches us that we must be very careful in applying the
fact, that speed can be greatly increased by practice, to horses ; because, if we
push it to an undue extent, they will be apt to become disgusted with their work,
and may refuse to 41 try.”
44 (2) I am much averse from the plan of throwing sound, healthy horses
altogether out of trainiog during the summer, for hard condition once lost
takes a long time to regain. A sound horse should get all through the hot
weather a fair amount of healthy work.
44 (3) The trainer, while supplying the horse with food suitable for the
requirements of his system, when undergoing severe work, should never lose
sight of the fact that the proper assimilation of such food can only be ensured
as long as the functions of digestion are in a healthy state.
1 What is the meaning of this date ? This bit of recent investigation deserves a
place by the notorious feat of Dugald Stewart in proving the 8anskrit language to be an
invention of the crafty Brahmans!
■ Sukra HI, 582-8.
• Sukra II, 280-88, 270-78, 274-75.
4 Sukra IV, vii, 288-48.
4 Haye’s Training and Horse Management in India (Longmans, 1805), pp. 150, 151, 104,
170 , 172 .
88
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“ (4) Horses should be made to walk smartly. Nothing looks slacker or
causes an animal to walk in a more slovenly manner than the way syces often
lead horses, with a long rein or rope over their shoulder, while they hobble
along in front at the rate of about two miles an hour.”
(/) Grooming .
The theory of grooming has been explained by General Fitzwygram 1
in his answer to the question—“why does the stabled horse require constant
grooming, whilst the same horse turned out into a field does well enough with¬
out it ?” “ It is the work and the food, not the shelter,” says he, “ which consti¬
tutes the difference between the domesticated animal and the horse in a state
of nature. * * * As long as the horse remains in a state of nature, taking
only the exercise required for gathering his food, and feeding only on laxative
diet, grooming is not needed, because the debris of the food and the excretions
of the system are carried off mainly by the action of the bowels and the
kidneys. The cart horse, whose work is slow, can get on with very little groom¬
ing. The hunter and the racehorse, on the other hand, whose whole systems are
developed to the utmost, require much more grooming than is necessary
for carriage and ordinary riding horses. * * * Cavalry horses in camps
require grooming just as much, and in some respects more than they do in
barracks. * * * Grooming, or in other words, cleanliness of the skin,
is not, as many suppose, a mere matter of appearance, or of a rough or smooth
coat; but it is essential to the general health and condition of the domesticated
animal.”
It is remarkable that the Sukra authors, who have been writing mainly
of the cavalry horses, should have been well-acquainted with the physiological
aspects of grooming, as would be evident from the particular care they have insist¬
ed on the syces and servants in attending to the rations, health and comfort
of the animals under their charge. The following rules of SukrachAryya
about shampooing, washing, cleaning, &c., as well as feeding and exercise con¬
nected with the art of grooming, testify to their thorough grasp of the subject
and may be compared with the most recent ideas about it.
(1) The horse that has got fatigue through work should be given a slight
stroll for sometime, then should be fed upon sugar and powdered grains mixed
with water.*
(2) The horse should be given gur (molasses) and salt just after work,
before the saddle and fittings are brought down. Then when the sweat has
disappeared, and it has stood calm and quiet the horse should be relieved of
its fittings and reins.*
(3) The horse should be made to stroll in the dust after its limbs have
been rubbed, and carefully tended with baths, drinks and foods 4 .
1 H or set and Stables , pp. 68-7, * Sukra IV, vii, 276-78.
• $u*ra IV, vii, 270-71, 4 Sukra IV, vii, 20-80.
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( 275 )
( 4 ) If the horse be made to carry burden, just after taking food and drink,
it soon gets coughs, breathlessness and other diseases. 1
General Fitzwygram* appreciates the Indian method of grooming in the
following words:
** In India the native groom often cleans his horse by hand-rubbing
or shampooing. The practice is good and has an excellent effect on the
skin. It would be difficult, probably impossible, to get English grooms
to adopt a practice so novel. But * * * the author believes the practice
would be found most beneficial. The action of the hand never irritates the
skin, which the brush frequently does.”
(g) Forage.
We have just noted that according to modern Physiology and Hygiene
feeding and grooming cannot be dissociated from each other and do in fact
form two inter-connected functions of one and the same work, viz., tending
of domesticated horses. The treatment of food must inevitably come hand
in hand with the other aspect of the general art of tending. It is perfectly
natural, therefore, that rations of horses, and their cleaning, rubbing, washing,
&c., have been dealt with by Sukra equestrians as an organically blended
topic. Thus in the above remarks abouc grooming we have noticed also the
treatment of the forage.
Besides sugar, salt, gur (molasses), and powdered grains or peas, called
saktu, the varieties of horses’ food are indicated in the following lines:
(1) The ho^se should be given peas or grains, masa, mungo (phaseolus
mungo), both dry and wet, as well as well-cooked meat.*
(2) Wines and juices of forest or wild animals take away all the
defects of horses. 4
(3) The horse should be made to take milk, ghee, water and powdered
grains. 1
Sukr&charyya thus recommends mineral, vegetable as well as animal food.
The following order® indicates the varying degrees of nutritive rations known
to our author:
(1) Best food— e.g„ Barley and pea.
(2) Second class— eg., Masa and makustha.
( 3 ) Inferior stuff— e.g„ Masur and mungo.
The Arthasdstra' 1 of Kautilya has given more elaborate rules about
rations to be observed by the superintendent of horses. In the dietary for the
best horse we find curd, milk, meat, among other articles.
The importance of sugar in the rations of horses is thus indicated by
Hayes : 8 Cane sugar is the best of all restoratives for animals in a state of
1 Sukra IV, vii, 283-4. 8 Sukra IV, vii, 282.
• Honet and Stable*, p. 70. * Sukra IV, vii. 230.
• Sukra IV, vii, 272-73. * See Law’s Hind. Pol. pp. 40-42.
4 Sukra IV, vii, 281. * Training and Hone Management in India, p. 26.
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( 216 )
exhaustion, because it can be absorbed into the system with little or no preli¬
minary preparation by the digestive juices. Also the more tired a horse is, the
more torpid are his disgestive organs. Therefore a solution of sugar is a far
better restorative to a fatigued horse, supposing that the amount of sugar is
equal to that of the starch in the gruel. 1 *
This explains the two rules of Sukrdchdryya about the kind of food to
be administered to horses just after work. To appreciate the physiological
significance of the rations prescribed in Sukraniti, Hayes’ chapters on varieties
of food, sketch of the theory of food and nutrition, watering horses, and prac¬
tical rules for feeding and watering horses, should be read along with this
section.
(h) Rules about exercise .
“ As air is to the lungs or food to the stomach, so is exercise to the due
development of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and respiratory organs. In the
horse, on account of the active exertions which we require from him, we wish
to get the muscles as firm, the tendons and ligaments as strong, and the
respiratory organs as vigorous as possible. * * * In the ox and sheep, and
other animals which are used for food, we wish to have the flesh less firm and
more tender ; and therefore we give him little or no exercise.”
The above extract from Fitzwygram’s work on Horses and Stables fur¬
nishes the theoretical considerations guiding the exercises of horses. It is
evident that exercises would vary with the climate and seasons of lands. The
rules of Sukra authors abcut the exercise of horses 1 according to seasons are
given below :
(i) One should ride the horse in the morning and evening in hetnanta
(October and November), winter and spring, in the evening in summer, and in
the morning in autumn.
(a) One should not use the horse in the rainy season nor on uneven
grounds.
We have in the section on horticulture noticed the rules for watering plants
adapted to the seasons, and had reasons for 'guessing that the rules indicated
the conditions of life obtaining in Eastern India. In the present instance, also,
the specially noticeable feature is the importance given to the rainy season, and
this, again, probably points to the abundant rainfall in Eastern India.
The beneficial effects of exercise are thus described by Sukrdchdryya:
44 The appetite, strength, prowess, and health of the horse are promoted by well-
regulated movements.” *
The following are the rules for 4 breaking 1 the horse:
(i) • A circular breaking or training ground • has to be prepared. The
circumference may be (i) i,ooo chtipas or dhanu% (=4,000 cubits), (ii) 500 ch&paa
or 2,000 cubits, (iii) 1,000 cubits, (iv) 400 cubits, or (v) 200 cubits.
1 Sukra. IV, vii, 266-68. In Atwavaidyaka a whole chapter has been devoted to the
treatment of seasons.
» Sukra IV* vii, 268. 4 Sukra IV, vii, 261-68.
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( 277 )
(2) The movement or speed of the horse should be daily increased by
exercises 1 within the circular ring in such a way that it can run too yojanas
(400 or about 700 miles) in a day. This speed has been taken to be the criterion
of the best horse in the calculation of prices 1 also. As for the daily increase of
speed we have already noticed the theories of Sukra and Hayes.
(3) The ideal speed of horses is, again, indicated in the following rule,
which, however, does not tally with the above :
“ The good horse* should go 100 dhattus or 400 cubits in 16 ra&tr&s.”
Horses are inferior according as the speed is lower.” [As 10 111 atras=4
seconds, the rate given here would be about 64 miles an hour.]
(i) The Art of Training.
Feeding and grooming, the two parts of the work of tending horses, form
the duty of the syce or groom. Exercise and Breaking also form patt ol his
duty. But these aspects of horse-management may be conveniently left to the
trainer or siskfaka ; for he is responsible for the character, gait, paces, speed,
&c.,of the animal, which depend, to a considerable extent, on exercise, breaking,
&c.
We have already noticed that “ it is the good or bad qualifications of the
trainer that give the horse good or bad gait ; ” and we have just seen that the
ideal speed which the horse should be expected to approximate is 64 miles an
hour or 700—800 miles a day. The trainer must therefore be well up in the
rules of horsemanship, which are given below :
(1) The good trainer is he who moves his legs below the knees, keeps
his body erect, is fixed in his seat, and holds the bridle uniformly.*
(2) The good trainer should strike the horse at the proper place by
whips mildly, and not too severely but with medium pressure.*
It is the proper use of the whip, in which, according to Sukr&chr&yya,
consists the secrect of good horsemanship or success in jockey’s art
(1) In the first place, one should never ride a horse without a whip, 1 and
should overpower the animal by whips when necessary.
(2) In the second place, he must not use it indiscriminately or very often,
or strike the horse at wrong places; for then he adds to the defects of the
animal, which last for ever. 8
(3) The following are the rules for striking a horse (i) at the sides, 7 if
it neighs, or if it slips, (ii) at the ear, if it shies, (iii) at the neck, if it goes astray,
(iv) at the space between the arms, if angry, (v) at the belly, if absent-minded.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 284-65.
* Sukra IV, ii, 199.
* Sukra IV, vii, 248.
* Sukra I *, vii, 244-45.
LA yojana=4, 5, 7, or 8 miles.]
* Sukra IV, vii, 246-7.
* Sukra IV. vii, 258.
‘ Sukra IV, vii, 255-57.
’ Sukra IV, vii, 248^0.
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( 278 )
Or 1 (vi) at the breast, if it be terrified, fvii) at the neck, if it neighs,
(viii) at the posterior, if it slips, (ix) at the mouth, if going astray, (x) at the
tail, if angry, and (xi) at the knees, if absent-minded.
The function of the trainer* would thus appear to consist of the following
classes of work:
(1) To promote the good disposition of the horse and maintain its proper
mettle by skilful management, as just described.
(2) To qualify horses as swift racers by proper exercise, &c., as described in
the previous sub-section.
(3) To train their gait, i.e., teach them elegant paces according to the
rules of military life, sportsmanship, hunting or ordinary riding.
Some of these paces were enumerated in the section on the general
.physiognomical and other features of horses ; e.g. t like those of tigers,* peacocks,
ducks, &c. A few remarks about the gait and movements of horses have also
been made there.
According to Arthas&stra * “ horses were trained not only for the ordinary
work of the state, but also for the more difficult movements required in war.**
The paces and trots enumerated by SukrScharyya differ, however, from those
given by Kautilya, both as to name and description.
According to Sukra authors, movements are of 11 kinds :*
(1) CAa£ri/a—circular.
(а) Rech ita— galloping.
(3) Valgita— prancing.
(4) Dhaurita— trotting.
(5) —jumping.
(б) Tura— speedy.
(7) Manda— slow or sluggish.
(8) Kutila— tortuous.
(9) Sarpana— serpentine.
(10) Parivartana— rolling, revolving.
(11) Askandita— galloping at full speed.
Of these, the following six* have been characterised by Sukrdchdryya
thus—
(1) Dh&rfr— which seems to be equivalent to tura in the above list—is
known to be that pace which is very fast, in the midst of which a horse would
get puzzled if spurred with the heels.
(2) Askandita— that in which the horse contracts its forelegs and runs
with rapid leaps.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 252*54.
a See also Sukra II, 270-73.
» Sukra IV, vii, 229-31.
4 Law's Hindu Polity, pp. 42-44. See the technical terms used by Kautilya
• Sukra II, 270-78.
•SukraIV, vii, 287-98.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 279 )
(3) Rechita —-that with short leaps, but continuous.
(4) Plata —that in which the horse leaps with all the four legs like the deer.
(5) Dhauritaka —rapid movement with uncontracted legs very useful in
drawing carriages or chariots.
(6) Valgita —that in which the animal runs with contracted legs, neck
raised like that of the peacock, and half the body trembling.
(j) Stables and Trappings.
Sukraniti is silent about stables. We read only that horses are well-kept
in watered lands, 1 and that stables for horses should be built in the northern
side* of the palace. Kautilya deals with the subject very elaborately and treats
of the ventilation, sanitation,* accommodation of the houses to be built for the
horses.
As for the trappings, we have noticed them in connexion with grooming.
One of the 64 Raids is the preparation of saddles 4 for horses, elephants, bulls
and camels.
The instrument by which the horse is to be controlled is the bridle or
reins, which has been elaborately described. 1
For cleansing purposes an instrument with seven sharp teeth 6 is used.
Section 14.
Elephants .
In modern India elephants are used principally and solely as draught-
animals. The following extract from Lieut-Colonel G. H. Evans* Elephants
and their Diseases * would give an idea of the uses to which they are put:
41 Elephants may conveniently be divided into two classes, namely,—
(a) timber-elephants, (A) baggage or travelling elephants.
Timber-elephants, again, may be divided into two classes, namely,
(i) trained tuskers, (ii) trained males and females.
Well-trained tuskers have at all times commanded a good price ; they are
much more useful, both in yards and forests, as with their tusks they can
4 oung', i.e 9 butt and stack timber, carry butts and planks, assist in getting logs
over obstacles or in clearing blocks in creeks. 0 ♦ * Though tuskers are
largely employed in dragging operations, still most of such work is generally
performed by tuskless males and females. Most Burmese elephants are trained
to timber-work, and to some extent to carrying baggage.”
In ancient and mediaeval India, however, the elephant force constituted a
special and characteristic feature of the Animal-corps. Alexander had to en¬
counter on the Hydaspis a Hindu army which was remarkably strong in its
elephant-force. Megasthenes* description of the capture of elephants is one of
1 Sukra IV, vii, 340-50. 4 Sukra IV, iii, 104. ~
* Sukra I, 451-8. • Sukra IV, vii, 841-44.
• Law’s Hind. Pol., pp. 88-89. • Sukra IV, vii, 846.
T Pp. 7-8 (published by Superintendent, Government Printing, Burma, 1910).
Digitized by
Google
( 280 )
the earliest pieces of literature on the subject. 1 11 One of the four well-known
divisions* of the old Hindu army was the elephant-force • • • There has
been on record many a battle in early Indian history in which elephants,
carried the day.”
It is not strange, therefore, that the animal should have drawn towards it
the attention of Hindu poets, scholars, Ayurvedists, artists, politicians, &c., from
the earliest times. We have already noticed the vast literature on the life,
habits, medical treatment, &c., of elephants. It may also be noted that the
elephant is very abundant in, and almost a characteristic fauna of, India. Tlie
abundance of the animal and its nearly uniform " distribution” throughout the
land, account for the considerable uses made of it by kings in every part of
the country and the impression made upon the thought of the people every¬
where. Besides their distribution in present times along the foot of the Himalayas
as far west as Oehra Dun, forests between Gangs and KrisnS, Western Ghats,
Mysore, and Ceylon, “there is evidence 1 that about three centuries ago
elephants wandered in the forests of Malwa and Nimar, while they survived to a
later date in the Chanda district of the Central Provinces. At the comparatively
remote epoch, when the Deccan was a forest tract, they were probably also met
with there.”
The rearing up of a good breed of elephants was recognised as one of the
special cares of Chandragupta’s Government. “The killing of an elephant was
visited even with capital punishment.”* Kautilya has treated the subject
elaborately in Arthas&stra .
But SukrSchSryya has paid more attention to horses than to elephants
or the other animals in the army.
(a) Mettle and worth.
According to Hindu writers, the appreciation of elephants like that of
horses depends on the following considerations(i) measurements of limbs,
(2) certain external characteristics and internal temperament, {3) marks or
omens, (4) places of origin. Sukr&ch&ryya has not touched the last two, and has
dealt with the first two items very summarily.
The general physiognomical and other features of elephants that are much
appreciated can be known from the following remarks:
(1) The best of all elephants' is one which has long cheeks, long eye¬
brows and long forehead, has the swiftest speed, and has auspicious marks on
the body.
(2) Harmful elephants are those that have blue palates, blue tongues,
curved tusks or no tusks, who persist long in their angry moods, whose rut
gushes out without any systematic order, who shake their backs, who have
less than 18 nails, and whose tails touch and sweep the ground. 0
* Book III, Fragment XXXVI, _ ~
* Law's Hind. Pol., p. 47.
* Encyclopaedia Britanniea , 11th Edition, Yol. 9, p. 260.
«Law's Hfttd. Pol. * Snkra IV, vil, 88-84. • Snkra IV, vii, 04-87.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 281 )
A modern writer 1 on the subject enumerates the following points of a
good elephant which may be compared with those given by the ancient Hindu
author: medium height, a good big barrel, skin soft and wrinkled (described
by Burmans as crocodile skin), the head massive, full cheeks, and a broad
forehead; the ears large, eyes bright and kindly, and free from opacity or
excessive flow of tears; the trunk of good length, broad at the root, and
blotched in front with pinkish coloured spots. The neck short, thick and full;
chest broad, the back straight and broad, broad loins; short forelegs, convex in
front (*.*., set up like a lion). The hind quarters full, sloping well down and
supported by thick short limbs. The pads of the feet hard, nails smooth and
polished, action free, paces fast and easy ; the tail should be of good length,
free from hardness, and provided with a good tuft of bristles.”
The tests of Var&liamihira of the 6th century A. D. are given in the fol¬
lowing lines taken from the 67th chapter of Brihat SatphiM* called 'character¬
istics or features of elephants *:
(1) 41 The elephant whose lips and mouth are red, whose eyes resemble
those of the sparrow, whose tusks are shining, grow upwards and have sharp
ends, whose face is large and long, whose backbones are like bows, long and
invisible, whose mastakas (round protuberances on the temples) are covered with
hair and resemble the turtle, whose ears, mouth corners, navel, forehead, and
genital organs are large, whose body resembles the turtle, whose nails are 18
or 30, whose trunk has three lines and is round, whose tail is beautiful, and
whose juice (when in rut) is felt to be of good smell when the animal blows
through its trunk, will bring on wealth.
(3) The elephant whose tail is long, trunk red, roar like that of clouds,
and neck large, long and round, will bring wealth to a king.
(3) Non-rutting elephants, those which possess extra or defective organs,
those which are lame or short, or whose tusks resemble the horns of the sheep,
whose testicles are visible, those which possess little or no trunk, whose mouth
corners are brown, blue, black, or of different colours, those which possess very
little hair about the face, those which have no tusks, those which have no
virility, female elephants possessing the features of a male elephant produce
misery.”
These and sundry topics of economic importance in connection with
elephants have been dealt at length in the 36th chapter of Book IV of Sivadatta’s
P&Iak&pya.
Hindu tradition, as we have just seen, attaches much importance to the
number of nails. The following remarks of Evans throw much light on this ques¬
tion : " Some animals have four nails on each foot; this decreases their value,
as five nails on each foot raises the same; four on each of the front feet and
five on the hind ones does not interfere with their value. Out of a total of
1 Bvans : Elephants and their Diseases t pp. 8-10.
* Iyer's Brihat Sar$hit&, Part II pp. 98-98.
86
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( 282 )
6a * Indian, Burmese, and Siamese elephants, only three possessed twenty
nails 1 ir ~5 t 500 had eighteen f 104 sixteen-illi., and 16 seventeen toes
5Z±”
4-4*
It would appear, therefore, that the very fact of 18 and 20 nails being rare
has had something to do with the worth of animals among the Hindus. We
incidentally notice here the minute observation of limbs and other features
of animals that was a characteristic of Hindu intellect.
(b) Omens .
The auspicious marks have been referred to in Sukraniii, but have not
been described. The Brihat Sattihiid has enumerated some of the omens con¬
nected with elephants which may be interpreted to indicate prosperity or adver¬
sity of the owners. A few remarks apply equally to horses and elephants.
Certain special points applying only to the latter, e.g ., those connected with the
cutting, breaking, etc., of the tusks are being given below :•
11 (1) If the cut be white, smooth, glossy and emitting good scent, there
will be prosperity. All that I now proceed to state about the breaking of tusks
applies also to the dropping down, becoming thin and loss of colour.
(2) 14 If the elephant be found to walk unsteadily, if its ears cease to move,
on a sudden, if the animal be of dejected appearances or if it be found to put
its trunk to the ground or to breathe softly ai d long, if the eyes be full of tears,
if the animal be found to sleep always or to be restive or to refuse to eat pro¬
perly, or to pass excrement or urine often, there will be misery.”
Burmese tradition on the subject has been recorded by Evans \n Elephants
and their Diseases 5 41 The following peculiarities in some animals reduce their
value, as they are regarded with superstitious dread by the Burmese. It is
thought that the ownership of such creatures may cost their masters loss of
life or substance:
(1) A loose fold of skin, descending from the throat down to the forelegs.”
(2) Moving head up and down and simultaneously from left to right.
(3) Swinging the trunk only to the left and right.
(4) Restlessness of the whole body somewhat after the fashion of bears.
(5) Holding the trunk up in the air and putting it into the mouth.^
(e) Breeds .
The Hastisdsfras have handed down various systems of taxonomy,
both economic and more or less zoological. In Sukraniti we have only one
system of terminology and classification. 44 There are four classes 4 of ele¬
phants in order of merit:
(1) Bhadra — {a) ‘*that which has tusks coloured like honey ($.*., not
' Elephants and their Diseases, p. 12.
* Iyer’s Brihat Sarphit i Part II. pp. 212-13.
» Pp. 1M2. 4 Sukra IV, vii, «8.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 28 » )
pure white, but yellowish, which is strong and well-formed, is round and fat
in body, has good face and excellent limb3; * M (b) “ the height* or stature is
seven cubits, length eight cubits, and girth or circumference of the belly ten
cubits.”
(a) Mandra—(a) “ that which has a fat belly,* lion-like eyes, thick skin,
thick throat and thick trunk, medium limbs, and a long body;” (b, height 4
six cubits, length eight aud girth nine.
(3) Mriga—{a) ” that which has small or short throat, 1 tusks, ears and
trunk, big eyes, and very short lips and genital organ, and 13 dwarf;” (b)
height five cubits, 6 length seven cubits and girth eight cubits.
(4) Afisra —(, u that which has these’ characteristics in mixture,”—/>.,
a non-descript, incapable of being specified as belonging to a particular type,
(6) no measurements given. 1
It would appear that the ‘artificial’ classification given here is meant only
to indicate by technical terms the permutation and combination of external
characteristics previously mentiQned.
VarAhamihira also recognises these four classes of elephants in Chapter
LXVII, but describes them in a slightly different* manner. The second class
is called by him manda and not mandra , and the last sankirna and not mist a.
The measurements given by him agree with those in Sukraniti except in the
following rule recorded by the latter But it is mentioned 10 by sages that
the lengths of the mandra and bhadra class would be equal.” The additional
information in Bnhai Samhitd is about colour of the animals
(1) The Bhadra is of green colour and is a rutting animal.
(2) The Mandra is of yellow colour.
(3) The Mriga is of black colour and is also a rutting animal.
(4) The Sankirna is of mixed colour and a rutting animal.
About the height of elephants 11 Evans makes the following remarks : —
” Extravagant estimates of the height of elephants have from time to time
been recorded ; their great bulk so far exceeds that of the ordinary animals we
are accustomed to see that the tendency is to overestimate their size. The old
method of measuring was also most misleading : a rope was simply thrown over
the back, the ends brought to the ground on each side, and half the length
taken as the height. Much amusing information on this subject is contained in
Sanderson’s excellent work. Madras elephants, he tells us, were at one time
1 Sukra IV, vii, 69-70.
1 Sukra IV, vii, 79-80. [V.B.—In elephant measurements, 8 yavas-=l angula.
24 angulas=l kara or cubit.
In horse-measure, 5 yavas—1 angula.
Sukra IV, vii, 77-8, 85.]
• Sukra IV, vii, 81-82.
T Sukra IV, vii, 75.
• Sukra IV, vii, 76.
'Seethe original Sanskrit Text iu the Bibliotheca Indica Series, edited by Kern
(Calcutta, 1865), pp. 888-40
10 Sukra IV, vii, 82 11 Elephants and their Diseases , pp. 4-5
• Sukra IV, vii, 71-72.
4 Sukra IV, vii, 81-82.
• Sukra IV, vii, 73-74.
Digitized by L^ooQle
v 264 )
said to be from 17 to 20 ft. high, and an animal of Dacca was said to be 14 ft.
Mr. Corse, a gentleman thoroughly conversant with elephants • • • was
rather surprised to find that according to his measurement the animal
said to measure 14 ft. did not exceed 10 ft. in height (a very good height). We
may take it on the authority of Sanderson * * * that such a thing as an
elephant measuring 10 ft. at the shoulder does not exist in India, nor ma}'
I add, in Burma. The largest male he ever met with measured 9 ft 10 in.
and the tallest female 8 ft. 5 in. • * • Of 300 elephants measured in this
Province the average height was^ 7 ft. 10J in. • * All these animals were
measured at the shoulder as is done with horses.*’
It is evident from the above that the Indian method of measuring heights
is different from that of measuring animals at the shoulder. Therefore,
the extraordinary height attributed to Indian elephants by people as well
as scholars of Hindusthan, is quite natural and perfectly explicable, and in fact
does very well tally with the statistics recorded in modern times. According
to the Hindu authorities the bhadra or the best class attains a height of
7 cubits or io| ft., and the tnriga or ordinary class has a stature of 5 cubits
or 7J ft., and this, measured not by the new method, but the old Indian
method. If the heights of the old method be reduced to the new standard,
the Bhadra would be very much under 10J ft. i.e., about 8 or 9 ft.; and
the Mriga would be about 5 or 6 ft. We should therefore be inclined rather
to think that the Hindu writers have understated the highest stature attain¬
able by elephants ; for, as we have just seen, the Dacca elephant measured
10 ft., and the average elephants measure generally 7 ft. 10J in .; i>., the
ordinary animals are equal to the highest classes mentioned in the standard
Sanskrit works on elephants.
Abul Fazl records the Hindu tradition of the four classes of elephants
in the Ayeen Akbari, 1 — that Imperial Gazetteer of India in Moghul times:
“ The natives of Hindusthan hold this animal in such estimation that
they consider one of them as equivalent to 500 horses. * * * The price
of an elephant is one hundred to a lac of rupees. Those of five thousand,
and of ten thousand rupees price, are not uncommon. * * *
There are four kinds of elephants. Behder (Bhadra) is that which has
well-proportioned limbs, an erect head, broad breast, large eyes, and a long
tail, with two excrescences in the forehead resembling large pearls. These
excrescences are called in the Hindovee language Guj Manik, and many
properties are ascribed to them. Another kind called Mund (Mandra) has
a black skin, and yellow eyes; is bold an<j ungovernable. That called
Murg (Mriga) has a whiter skin, with moles, and its eyes are of a mixture
of red, yellow, black and white. That called Mirk (Misra) has a small head,
and is easily brought under command: Its colour is a mixture of white
and black, resembling smoke. And from mixtures of the above kinds are
formed others of different names and properties.’*
1 Part I pp. 146-147 (Translation published in 1788),
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It should be remarked that Kautilya’s Arthas&stra does not enumerate
these four classes ; his silence may probably be taken to mean the absence of the
idea in the 4th century B.C. But the Yukti-kalpataru , also, a work later than
Brihat Satphitd, which treats of elephants, horses, cattle, &c., and mentions the
eight classes of elephants called Diggaja , e.g„ AirdvalaPundarika , &c., with
their characteristics as well as the four classes, e.g., Brahmana, Ksatriya, &c.,
does not record the four-fold distinction noted in Sukraniti and Brihat Samhitd.
So the mere silence of Kautilya is no evidence against the absence of the
tradition in his times.
The number four seems to have been a favourite with Hindu authors in
thinking of classes. For corresponding to the four castes in social life we have
four classes of elephants and also four classes of wood. Thus “ according to the
Brik$a Ayurveda • or the Science of Plant-Life (Botany) four different kinds of
wood are to be distinguished : the first or the Brahmana comprises wood that is
light and soft and can be easily joined to any other kind of wood ; the second
or the Ksatriya class of wood is light and hard, but cannot be joined on to
other classes; the wood that is soft and heavy belongs to the third or Vaisya
class; while the fourth or the Sudra class of wood is characterised by both
hardness and heaviness ”
The classification of breeds according to the places of origin has not
been mentioned in Sukraniti , but recorded by Kautilya: 11 The sources of
supply of elephants* were the following places : (1) Kalinga, (2) Anga,
(3) Karusa (eastern portion of the district of Shahabad in Behar) supplying
elephants of the best quality ;
(4) Prdchya (east), (5) Da sari? a (modern Mandasore), (6) Aparanta (wes¬
tern countries, viz ., Konkan and Malabar), supplying elephants of medium
quality;
(7) Surastra (Guzrat) and (8) Panchajana (in Northern India), supplying
elephants of inferior quality.”
The following extract from the Ayeen Akbari would also furnish informa¬
tion regarding some aspects of the Economic or Commercial Geography of
Mediaeval India: ** Elephants are taken in the following places. In Agra, in
the wilds of Begavan, and Nerwar, as far as Berar. In the Subah of Allahabad ;
near Ruttenpoor; Sirgetchch ; the Subah of Malwa; Hattendeyah ; Achowd:
Chundary; Suntwass; Bijegurh; Roysan ; Hosengabad ; Gurh ; Haryegurh; in
the Subah of Behar on the Borders of Rohtas ; at Jharkhend; and in the Subahs
of Bengal and Orissa, particularly at Satgong, there are great numbers. The
best elephants are those of Tipperah.”
1 Two of these eight names have been referred to in Sukra II, 250-58
* Hiatonj of Indian Shipping (Longmans, Green & Co.), 1912 by Prof. Radhakumnd
Mookerji, p. 20.
* Law's Hindu Pol pp. 50-51,
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The money-value of elephants, according to the statistics supplied by the
Sukra authors, is indicated below :
(1) Good elephant 1 (or horse) costs 2,000, 3,000, or 4,000 rupees.
(2) The elephant* that is unrivalled in strength, height, fight and madu
(rut) is priced at 2000 niqkas [Niska is the value of gold weighing 4 tndsds ;
and in estimating the value of elephants, 5 ratis = 1 mdsa] or Rs. 6,666.
We have already noticed the remarks of Abul Fazl about the high prices
of these animals. Evans' remarks on Prices are given below : 11 Prices vary
according to age, good points, temper, training, and length, thickness, and
sweep of the ivory. * * * A full-grown well-trained tusker will command as
much as Rs. 7,000 and a well-trained female as much as Rs. 5,000. Elephants
that are trained to baggage work or slightly to timber may cost Rs. 4,000/’
These are known to be high prices.
(d) Training and Management .
Information in Sukranlti regarding the rations, grooming, exercise,
training, medical treatment, stabling, &c., of elephants is very scanty, almost
nothing. Some of these items have been but casually noticed, as we have
seen previously. Thus we read: (1) One should bring friends and foes to
submission by appropriate methods as snakes, elephants and lions are tamed. 5
(2) The elephant, the horse, the bull, the child, the wife and the parrot get the
qualities of their teachers through association. 4
The art of training has been mentioned among the subjects that should be
studied by the man who is to be in charge of elephants. 1 We have also read
previously of professions connected with the capture of the animals. There
are two kal&s*— one relates to the driving or guiding, and the other to the
teaching or training.
The Arlhas&slra' gives more details. About capture of .the animals
we are told that the captors, taking with them five or seven female elephants
roamed about in the summer—the season for the capture of elephants—in the
forest, and traced the whereabouts of herds of elephants by folllowing the
course of their dung and urine, and by observing their footmarks, the spots
where they reposed, the banks of rivers, lakes, &c., they damaged.
Kautilya divides elephants into four classes according to their training:
(1) Damya— those that are being trained.
(a) Upav&hya— those trained for riding, &c., in times of peace.
(3) Sdnnahya — trained for war.
(4) Vydla— refractory and difficult to be broken, because of obstinacy,
perversity, bad temper, &c.
_ ~ 1 Sukra IY, ii, 108. 4 Sukra III, 582-8.
• Sukra IV, ii, 208-6. ‘ Sukra II, 266-9.
• Sukra IV, i, 48-49. • Sukra IV, iii, 166.
T Law’s Hind. Pol . p. 51-7.
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There were several clearly marked out stages in the process of taming.
For war purposes the elephants were taught seven kinds of movements ; for
riding they were taught eight movements. The movements for military purposes
are
(1) Upasthdna— rising, bending, jumping over fences **
(2) Samvartana— turning.
(3) Sarny Ana— moving forward straight or transverse or making ser¬
pentine movement.
(4) Vadhavadha— killing and trampling down.
(5) Ndgarayana— assailing forts and cities.
(6) Hastiyuddha— fighting with other elephants.
(7) Sdngrdm>ha— other cognate movements relating to war.
The elephant is governed by the hook 1 which has two teeth, one for
movement forward, and the other for movement backward.
About stables SukrachAryya says nothing. We are only told that ele¬
phants are well-kept in forests.* The sixth chapter of the 4th Book of Pdlakdpya
describes in prose the nature of the soil, the direction, the size, shape, doors,
&c. of the stables suitable for elephants: and the 5th chapter of the second
Book advises great precaution in allowing visitors into the hastisdlds for fear
they might cause damages to the animals by administering poisons, &c. The
effects of poisons on various substances, animals, milk, fire, &c., are treated
here quite elaborately. In connexion with the housing arrangements should
be noted also the religious ceremonies for the propitiation of the gods described
in the last two chapters of the Book IV.
Kautilya's treatment of stables 5 in the ArthasSstra is full enough. “ There
were two sets of stables, one in the fort, and the other outside ; in the former
were kept those animals that had already been trained for war and riding,
and in the latter those that were being trained, together with the refractory
animals.
An elephant stable was twice as high as the length of an elephant, and
its width was half its height; it was made to face either the north or east, had
separate apartments for female elephants, had a spacious corridor, &c.”
Section 15.
Bulls and Camels in Sukraniti.
The celebrated Sanskrit manuscript, called Yukti-kalpataru % has several
section? devoted to animal-life. Three of these relate to Bulls and Cows,
their character, merits and defects. There are two methods of classification
adopted in this treatise with regard to gulls : (1) into Brahmanas, Ksatriyas,
Vaisyasand Sudras, and (2) into Sltwika, R&jasika and Tdmasika.
Information supplied by Sukra authors is very meagre. We read—
(1) Bulls get the qualities of their trainer through association.*
1 Sukra IV, vii, 889-40. 3 Law’n Hindu Pol . p, 5t.
» Sukra IV, vii, 840-50. 4 Snkra HI, 582-8.
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(a) The price of a bull 1 with good horns, fair colour, sufficient strength,
which can carry burdens and can walk fast, and which has the height of eight
tftlas is Rs. 480.
(3) The bull is controlled by the string which passes through the nose.*
(4) Bulls are well-kept in watered lands.*
Regarding camels we are told—
(1) The high price of camels is known to be that of the buffalo, 4 i.*„
Rs. 56 or Rs. 64.
(a) The good camel* is one which can go 30 yojanas (lao or 210, or 240
miles in one day. Its price is 100 silver palas or Rs. 800
(3) The camel, like the bull, is governed by the strings.*
(4) Camels, like elephants, are well-kept in forests. 1
The following are the remarks of Abu! Fazl about camels :
u From the encouragement given by His Majesty, there are now bred in
Hindusthan camels that excel those of Turan and Iran.
14 A number of these animals are selected, and always kept ready to fight
for diversion. The head Khaseh camel, named Shah Pussend (the king’s choice),
and who is a native of Hindusthan, has for the space of la years conquered
all antagonists.
41 Camels are bred in the following places: Ajmere, Judhpoor, Nagore,
Beyganur, Jalmeer, Hetinda and Tahtesir; and in the Subah of Gujrat, near the
province of Kutch are great numbers and very fine. But in Sind are the
greatest abundance. The swiftest camels are those of Ajmere, the best for
burden are bred in Tatah ” • • • Camels do not live
above 24 years.”
The Ayeen Akbari gives details about the daily rations of camels according
to age, their furniture, methods of training and anointing them, the adminis¬
trative staff in connexion with this branch of Imperial live-stock, and prices, etc.
The Hindus had been for ages skilled in the training and management of
camels. And it appears that the camel-post was one of the Moghul institutions
for the conveyance and transmission of news: 44 Reybary is the name given to
a tribe of Hindus, who are skilled in the management of camels. They teach the
Hindu Look (species of camel) to travel at a great rate. Although for the
speedy conveyance of intelligences postmen are stationed at every five cose
(10 miles) from one extremity of the empire to the other, yet a great number of
these camel riders are continually in waiting at the palace to carry order.”
About Bulls the Ayeen Akbari gives the following information:
44 Throughout Hindusthan the ox is esteemed lucky and held in great venera¬
tion. Every part of the empire produces good oxen, but those of Gujrat are
* 8ukra IV, ii, 194-195. - Sukra IV, ii, 198. ~
• Sukra IV, vii, 845. * Sukra IV, ii, *01-1.
» Sukra IV, vii, 849-50. * Sukra IV, vii, 845.
T Sukra IV, vii, 849-60.
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esteemed the best. These will travel 36 miles in the course of 34 hours, and
they are swifter than the generality of horses. Sometimes a pair of them are
sold for 100 mohurs, but they are very commonly of 10 and 30 mohurs. There
are also abundance of fine oxen in Bengal and the Deccan, that will kneel down
to be loaded. Many cows at Delhi give daily ao quarts of milk each, and are
sold for more than 10 rupees. His Majesty has a pair of bullocks which cost
500 rupees. In the neighbourhood of Tibet and Kashmeer, are the Kstars,
which are of a very extraordinary appearance. This animal lives seldom above
35 years.
Section 16.
The Anatomy of the Vertebrates .
(a) Hindu Literature on Human Anatomy.
Like mineralogy. Botany, and Zoology, the Anatomy of the Hindus lies
scattered through all branches of Hindu literature, Vedic, PaurAgic, TAntric,
Medicinal, Astronomical, and Sociological.
The Hindus have described five hundred muscles,—four hundred in the
extremities, sixty-six in the trunk, and thirty-four in the region above the clavicle.
They knew of the ligaments, sutures, various vessels and nerves, lymphatics
and nerve plexuses, seven layers of skin, MAnasadharA or Fascia, MedhadharA
or Adipose tissue, RaktadharA or Vascular tissue of bloodvessels, PittadharA or
Mucous membrane of the digestive canal, SlesmadharA or Synovial membranes,
etc. There are allusions to VapA (pericardium), Hridaya (heart), Fusfusa (lungs)
Yakrit (liver). Pliha (spleen), Vrikka (kidneys), Mastiskam (brain), Adhipati
(medulla), 1 etc.
Any tubular structure is called by them a nddi or vessel. But they dis*
tinguish three sorts of nddls : (1) Dhamani (artery) carrying wind, (a) SirA
(vein) carrying blood, (3) Srota (canal), including the large and small intestines,
ducts of the various glands, lacteal vessels, etc.
1. The Nervous System of the Tantras.
The contributions of the Hindus to anatomy are recorded in many non¬
medical works,— e.g ., the Tantras—the last phase of Yoga philosophy in India-*
the records of Hindu culture in mediaeval tirpes. It is only very recently that
the Tantras have begun to be edited and translated.* But in 1885 one of these
documents of Hindu allegorical literature and mystical lore, vie ., the Shiva
Satphitd, was translated into English by Rai Bahadur Srischandra Basu.
In his Prize Essay on the Hindu System of Medicine published in the
Guy's Hospital Gazette of London (1889), Major B. D. Basu, I.M.S., referred to
the anatomy of the Tantras in the following words : M When these Tantras
1 The Ayurvedic System of Medicine by Dr. Samant B. Mehta of Baroda (Navsari, Bom¬
bay, 1918), and Dr. Gananath Sen's Medical Science in Ancient India (SAhitya SabhA, Cal¬
cutta, 1908).
9 See the Tantrik Texts Series , edited by Avalon, and Mahdnirvdia Tantra translated
previously by Manmathanath Datta, recently revised by Avalon (Luzao St Co., London,
1918.)
84
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will be studied by oriental scholars, as closely as they have explored other
branches of Sanskrit learning, the anatomical knowledge of the ancient Hindus
shall be better known to the world ; ” for, according to him, 44 better anatomy is
given in the Tantras than in the medical works of the Hindus."
From Shiva Saiphitd now republished in the “Sacred Books of the
Hindus Series," we learn that the Hindus were acquainted with the spinal-cord
and the brain. They knew that the central nervous system is composed of grey
and white matters. They discovered the central canat of the spinal cord, and
traced its connexion, through the fourth and third ventricles, with the lateral
ventricles of the brain. They call it Brahma randhra, or the dwelling-house
of the human soul. The same Tantric work gives a description of the several
ganglia and plexuses of the nervous system. The brain is said to be composed
of Chandrakald , or convolutions resembling half-moons.
The nervous system of man is in fact more accurately described in the
mystical Tantras than in purely medical treatises. In a paper on the
Anatomy of the Tantras, originally published in the 41 Theosophist” of
March 1888, and reprinted in the Introduction to Shiva SamhitA in the Sacred
Books of the Hindus Series, Major Basu has tried to unravel the mystery of the
Yogis and TAntrists regarding the nerves and nerve-centres, and identify the
Nddis , Chakras % and Padmas . The following is a reproduction from that paper.
The language of the Tantras being too allegorical and too mystical to be
understood by the uninitiated, it is very difficult to identify the NAdis, the
Chakras, and the Padmas described in them.
However, some of the spots are easily identifiable from their simple and
lucid description. Thus it is apparent that the 4 | nectar-rayed moon •' (vide
Shiva SamhitA, Ch. 11 , verse 6) is the under part of the brain ; that 44 Su^umna ,f
is the spinal cord ; " Ida ” and 44 PingalA ” are the left and right sympathetic
cords respectively. 1
1 The Uttar Git A has thus described the relations of these structures (Ch. 11, verses
14 and 15)
“ The bony column that extends (from the coccyx) to the occiput is called the
Brahmadanda (£e., the vertebral column). Within this is the thin cord Sugum-
nA,' which is also called Brahman Adi by the wise. This Su?umn£ is midway between the
IdA and PingalA”
Another Tantric work named, Sab-Chakra Nirftpanam, has thus described the position
of these three NAdis
“ Outside the spinal canal, on the left is the IdA aud on the right is the PingalA,
while within the canal and midway between the above two NAdis is the SufumnA, whose
structure is like a rope.”
Prof. Cowell identifies 8usumnA with the coronal artery (vide his translation of
Maiteyi-oplnishad, p. 270, footnote. Published by the Asiatic Sooiety of Bengal.) While
Pandit Rama Frasad Kasyapa, M. A., identifies 8u$umna with trachea, and IdA and PingalA
with left and right bronchi (Occult Science, the Science of Breath. Published at Lahore,
1884).
But it is clear from the above description that these three famous NAdis are the
spinal cord and the two sympathetic cords.
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We shall try now to identify some of the nervous structures described in
the Tantras
11 Chitra.”—From the description of this Nad! in the Tantras (Shiva Sam-
hitA, Ch. II, verses 18.19), it ma y identified with the grey matter of the
spinal cord. For 44 in it is the subtlest ” of all hollows called 41 Brahmarandhra,”
which is nothing else save the central Canal of the spinal cord—a structure
whose functions remain as yet to be discovered by the physiologists. The
Tantrists appear to have traced its connection with the lateral ventricles of the
brain. It has been considered by them to be the seat of the human soul.
Even in these days, when it is no exaggeration to say that the Hindus have
quite forgotten the scientific truths discovered by their ancestors^ they point to
the hollow space in the crown of the head (known as the anterior fontanalle) of
the new-born child as the Brahmarandhra.
Every tyro in anatomy knows that this spice contains the lateral ventricles
of the brain. 1
The 41 Sacred Trivet ?! 91 (Shiva Samhita, Ch. V, p. 52) is the spot in the
medulla oblongata where the sympathetic cords join together or whence they
take their origin. (Vide Ashby’s Notes on Physiology,—Article Medulla
Oblongata). The mystic Mount Kaildsa (Shiva Samhita, Ch. V, p. 154) is cer¬
tainly the brain.
I Prof. Sir Monior Williams has defined Brahmarandhra to be “a suture or aperture
in the crown of the head and through which the soul is said to escape on death.” (Sans-
krit-English Dictionary.) Now the learned professor’s definition explains nothing. Had
lie consulted the Tantras and known the space called the Brahmarandhra by the modern
Hindus, we doubt not his conclusion would have been the same as ours (f .e., he would
have identified the Brahmarandhra with the central canal).
2. A Hindu renegade thus delivered his verdict on the anatomy of the Tantras, &c. •
II It would indeed excite the surprise of our readers to hear that the Hindus, who
would not even touch a dead body, much less dissect it, should possess any anatomical
knowledge at all. It is the Tantras that furnish us with some extra¬
ordinary pieces of information, concerning the human body. But of all the Hindu
S&stras extant, the Tantras lie in the greatest obscurity.The
Tantric theory on which the well-known Toga called “ Shat-chakra-bheda” is founded,
supposes the existence of six main internal organs, called Chakras or Padmas, all bearing
a special resemblance to that famous flower, the lotus. These are placed one above the
other, and connected by three imaginary chains, the emblems of the Ganges, the Yamuni
and the Saraswati..
M Such is the obstinacy with which the Hindus adhere to these erroneous
notions, that even when we show them by actual dissection the non-existence of the
imaginary Chakras in the human body, they will rather have recourse to excuses revolt¬
ing to common sense, than acknowledge the evidence of their own eyes. They say with
A shamelessness unparalleled, that these Padmas exist as long as a man lives, but dis¬
appear the moment he dies.”—Physical Errors of Hinduism, Calcutta Review, Yol. XI,
pp. 486-440.
A Daniel has come to Judgment. Did the Hindu renegade take the trouble to com¬
pare the Chakras with the Plexuses of modern Anatomy ? Had he done so, he would not
have talked such nonsense. His paper contains two diagrams, one of the six Chakras and
the other of the different viscera as represented by the modern TAntrists,
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Padmas and Chakras.^ Great difficulty arises in identifying these Padmas
and Chakras. What are these structures one is tempted to ask? Are they real,
or do they only exist in the imagination of the Tdntrists? Though we are
unable to satisfactorily identify them, we nevertheless believe that the Tan-
trists obtained their knowledge about them by dissection. These terms have
been indefinitely used to designate two different nervous structures, via .:—
nervous plexuses and ganglia. But it may be questioned, how are we autho¬
rized to identify the Tantric Padmas and Chakras with either the ganglia or
plexuses of the modern anatomists ? Our reasons for doing so are the following:
ist.—The position of some of these Padmas and Chakras corresponds
with that of the plexus or ganglion of the modern anatomists.
2nd.—These Chakras are said to be composed of petals designated by
certain letters, which clearly point to either the nerves that go to form a
ganglion or plexus, or the nerves distributed from such ganglion or plexus.
3rd.—Certain forces are said to be concentrated in these Chakras, thus
identifying them with the plexuses or ganglia which the modern physiologists
have proved to be 41 separate and independent nervous centres.” 1
This NAdi Susumna has six Padmas (Shiva Samhita, Ch. 11 , v, 27, p. 12),
evidently signifying the six nervous plexuses formed by the spinal cord.
The description of the thousand-petalled lotus (Shiva Samhita, p. 51)
shows it to be the medulla oblongata.
We proceed next to the identification of the famous six Chakras of the
Tantras:—
i Muladhdra Chakra (Shiva Samhita, p. 44) is the sacral plexus.
ii. Swadhislhdna Chakra (Shiva Samhita, p. 46). There can hardly be
two opinions as to its being the prostatic plexus of the modern anatomists.
iii. Manipur Chakra (Shiva Samhita, p. 47) appears to be the epigastric
plexus.
iv. Anahat Chakra (Shiva Samhita, p. 47) is the cardiac plexus.
v. Vtyudha Chakra (Shiv Samhita, p. 48) is either the laryngeal or
pharyngeal plexus.
vi. Ajnh Chakra (Shiva Samhita, p. 47) is the cavernous plexus.
We have very briefly hastened over the six Tantric Chakras. We see
that these Chakras are the vital and important sympathetic plexuses, and preside
over all the functions of organic life.
There can be little doubt that by^the 41 contemplation ” on these Chakras,
one obtains psychic powers.
44 Contemplation ” leads to control over the functions of these Chakras or
plexuses. 44 The intimate connection between the sympathetic nerves and the
» 0rays Anatomy, 10th Edition,
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great viscera renders it highly probable that the sympathetic system has
mainly to do with the organic functions. * * * The sympathetic is the
system of organic life.” When one gets control over the sympathetic nervous
system, one is the master of one’s body, one can die at will. The heart beats at
his will. The lungs, the intestines, nay, all the different viscera of the body,
carry on their allotted duties at the command of such a Yogi. Verily, verily,
that is the stage of Samadhi.
The learned translator has treated only of the five externalities of Yoga
in his elaborate introduction. He has not dwelt on the Dhyftna, Dharaga and
.Samadhi. As “ Pratyahara is not a distinct method in itself, but is a result
of Pragayama,” so Samadhi is the stage brought about by the processes of
Dhyana and Dharaga. As u by Pratyahara, the subjective world overcomes
the objective,” so by Samadhi, the spiritual nature of man stands predominant
over the gross physical one. Pratyahara must be clearly distinguished from
Samadhi. No more serious mistakes, we think, can be committed than con¬
sidering the hybernation of the reptiles and other animals as illustrating the
Samadhi stage of the Yogis. The hybernation corresponds with the Pratya¬
hara, and not the Samadhi stage of Yoga. The learned translator has happily
compared the Pratyahara stage with the stage of insensibility produced by the
administration of anaestheties, e.g. f chloroform (Introduction to the Shiva
Samhita, Ch. X, pp. lvii, el seq). *But it is a well-known fact that the inhalation
of chloroform has little perceptible effect upon the sympathetic nerves. The
spiritual conciousness of man is intensified only when the functions of the
organic life are brought under his control, and when he can modify and regulate
the functions of the different viscera. We repeat that that is the stage of
SamAdhi.
It behoves all students of Yoga and occultism then to gain a clear know¬
ledge of these six Chakras, from the contemplation of which he can aspire to
attain to the stage of Samadhi.
Major Basu concludes thus :
11 This is an humble attempt on our part to identify these Chakras, and how
far we have succeeded in our task, it remains for those who are abler, and more
learned than ourselves to decide. It is passing strange indeed, that the three
famous Nadls of the Tantras, vie., Susumna, Ida, and PingalA, which, there
cannot be the slightest doubt, form the spinal cord, right and left sympathetic
cords respectively, have not as yet been identified by any Orientalist. But we
believe that as a Tantric work has been rendered into English, greater attention
will be bestowed by Oriental scholars in illumining the dark recesses of the
Tantric literature, and it is to be expected that within a not very distant date
the Chakras, V&yus, &c., of the Tantras will be more correctly identified.”
2. Osteology .
The Hindu system of osteology, so far as human anatomy is concerned,
which has been thoroughly investigated by Dr. Hoernlein his learned 1 Studies
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in the Medicine 1 of Ancient India * can be known from the following works *
A. — The System of Atreya-Charaka :—
1. Cbaraka Saiphita-Sarlrasthana, VU adhyftya.
2. The Glosses of Chakrapagidatta.
3. Bheda Samhita—Sarlrasthana, VII adhy&ya.
4. The Non-medical version of Yajnavalkya 8 (III, 84.90). (4th cent. A.D.)
5. The Commentary of Apararkaon „ (India Office MSS.) in 1150 A.D.
6. The Commentary of Vijnaneswara on „ ( „ „ ) in 1100 A.D.
7. The Commentary of Sulapani on „ ( „ „ ) in the 15th cent
8. The Commentary of Mitramisra on „( „ „ ) in the 17th cent.
9. The Non-medical version in the Institutes of Visgu 8 (200-400 A.D.)
10. Vatjayanti , or the Commentary of Nanda Pandita on Institutes ofVianu,
in 1622 A.D.
11. The Non-medical version in the Puragas 8 —(i) Agnipuraga (369th chapter),
and (ii) Visnudharmottarapurana (Part of Garudapuraga) which has
been quoted by BallalaSen in Danasdgara (1100 A.D.)
12. The Non-medical version in the * Anatomy ’—the anonymous work called
Sariram (Tubingen University Mss.)
B. —The System of Susruta
1. Susruta Samhitft—Sarirasthanam.
2. Sartra PadminI (Mss. in the possession of Dr. Cordiar).
3. Commentary on Sarira PadminI by Vaidyanatha.
4. Bhavaprakasa (Jivananda’s edition of 1875, pp. 40-41).
C. —The System of Vagbhata I
1. Astanga Sangraha (Bombay, Vol. I, p. 244, II. 3-13.)
Z?.—Miscellaneous Texts
1. Susruta and Vagbhata on muscles—
(а) Susruta Samhita—Sarlrasthana, Ch. V, cl. 33.
(б) Dallana’s commentary extracted from Jivananda’s edition, p. 578.
(1 c) Vagbhata I, (Bombay) Vol. 1 , p. 225, 11 . 20-21.
2. Susruta on Dissection.
3. Susruta on Homology in Sarirasthana, Ch. Vi, cl. 29.
4. Susruta and Vagbhata on the Eye-ball—
(а) Uttaratantra, Ch, I, verses 166, 17 a.
(б) Ajtanga Sangraha—Sarlrasthana, Ch. V, Vol. I, p. 233,1. 10.
5. Bhoja on nalaka or reed-like bones, as reported by Dallana (Jiv., p. 576)
and Gayadasa.
1 Published by the Olarendou Press, Oxford, 1907.
* See pp. 185-242.
* “ The Law-Book of Yfijnavalkya is the original source of the non-medical version,
from which it passed into the Institutes of Vignu and into the two Pur&nas.” Hoernle, p. 44.
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6. Dalian* on the aggregate ten (Jiv., p. 576)
7. Susruta and VAgbhata on the number of kurcha.
8. Susruta and Vagbbata on the number of ankles.
9. Susruta on the position of cluster and cluster-head.
10. Dallana, GangAdhara and Nanda Pandita on the collar-bone.
11. Susruta and VAgbhata on the position of scapula and clavicle,
is. Susruta on the number of scapula and clavicle.
13. Susruta on Amsakuta.
14. „ „ Amsapitta.
15. RAjanighantu and Amarakosa on Bhaga.
16. Susruta and VAgbhata on Jatru and GrtvA.
17. Susruta, VAgbhata and MAdhava on the Valmika disease.
r8. Susruta on (Jrdhwajatru and Jatrurdhwa.
The System of the Vedas
1. The Satapatha BrAhmaga 1 on the Total Number of Bones and Bones in
the Head and Trunk (X, 5, 4, 123; XII, a, 4, 9-14).
a. The £atapatha BrAhmana on Costal Cartilages (VIII, 6, a, 7, 10).
3. The Atharva Veda on the Sekleton (X, 2, verses 1-8).
The * wonderful structure of man ’ is thus described in the Atharva Vtda %
(X,2) :
M i. By whom were brought the two heels of a man ? by whom was his
flesh put together ? by whom his two ankle joints ? by whom his cunning
fingers? by whom his apertures ? by whom his two uchlakhas in the midst?
who put together his footing (pratisthd) ?
“ 2. From what, now, did they make a man’s two-ankle-joints {gulpha)
below, his two knee-joints above ? separating his two back-thighs ( fattghd ),
where, forsooth, did they set them in ? the two joints of his knees—who indeed
understands that ?
11 3. There is joined, four-fold, with closed ends, above the two knees,
the pliant trunk ; what the hips are, the thighs,—who indeed produced that,
by which the body became very firm ?
“4. How many gods (and) which were they, who gathered the breast,
the neck-bones of man? how many disposed the two teats? who the two
collar-bones ? how many gathered the shoulder-bones ? how many the ribs ?
“5. Who brought together his two arms, saying “he must perform
heroism ” ? what god then set on his two shoulders upon the body ?
“6. Who bored out the seven apertures in his head ? these ears, the
nostrils, the eyes, the mouth ? in the might of whose conquest in many places
quadrupeds (and) bipeds go their way.
1 Hoernle’s Indian Med., pp. 105-8.
* See the translation and notes in the Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 8, pp. 567-72.
Dr. Hoernle’s translation on pp. 110-11 of his work differs slightly from this.
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4< 7. Since in his jaws he put his ample tongue, then attached to it great
voice; he rolls greatly on among existences, clothing himself in the waters:
who indeed understands that ?
“ 8. Which was that god who (produced) his brain, his forehead, his hind
head, who first his skull, who having gathered a gathering in man’s jaws,
ascended to heaven ? Vf
Its composition is traditionally ascribed to Risi NArdyana, author of the
famous hymn on the sacrifice of man (called Purusa-sukta), perhaps also
a medical man responsible for certain formulae, e.g. t the recipe for the
preparation of a medicated oil in Bower MSS. Part 111 .
3. Vardhamihira.
To the above survey of Hindu anatomical literature we should also add the
non-medical treatment of the human body in LXV 11 I chapter of VarAhamihira’s
Brihat Samhitd . This chapter on the physical features of man called
Puru$alak$anam % begins thus : “ A learned person shall examine a man’s
(1) Ksetra (body), (2) MrijA (complexion), (3) Swara (voice), (4) Sara (strength),
(5) Samhati (joints), (6) Sucha (gloss), (7) Varga (colour), (8) Anuka (shape of the
face), (9) UnmAna (height), (10) Mana (weight), (n) Prakriti (disposition), (12)
Gati (gait) and then predict his fortune.” We meet in this chapter with such
terms of human anatomy as nails, heels, sinews, ankle, shanks, thighs, knees,
loins, abdomen, sides, belly, navel, skin, nipple, bosom, collar-bones, neck,
arm-pit, shoulders, arms, fingers, wrists, palm, thumb, fore-finger, chin* lips,
tongue, face, ears, cheek, nose, eyes, brows, temples, head.
Appendix C.
4. Dr. Seal on Hindu Physiology and Biology.
For Seal's notes on Hindu Ideas about Nervous System of Tantras, Vital Force,
Heredity, &c„ see Appendices.
(b) The Scientific Value of Hindu Anatomy .
By a comparison of the Vedic osteological system with those of Atreya-
Charaka and Susruta, Dr. Hoernle proves
(t) The “ system of the Atharva-Veda more nearly approaches the system
of Atreya-Charaka than that of Susruta; ” and belongs to the “ semi-mythical
period of the history of Indian medicine.*' (circa 1000 B.C.)
(a) In the time of Ydjnavalkya, the traditional author of Satapatha
Brdhmana , who is said to have flourished at the court of Janaka, king of Videha,
contemporary of King AjAtasatru and Buddha, #>., about 500 B.C., “ both the
medical schools of Atreya and Susruta were in existence;” and 11 he possessed
some knowledge of their respective theories on the skeleton.
‘The remaining verses of the hymn refer to the ‘numerous things dear and not
dear,* ruin, pleasure, &c M and altogether give a complete picture of social, political and
moral aspects of human existence.
* Sanskrit Text in the Bibliotheca Indica (Calcutta, 1886).
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As for Vfigbhata’s osteological system, Hoernle proves that the principle on
which his list of bones is constructed is 41 to take the list of Susruta as its
basis and add to it such items of the list of Charaka as do not occur in it,”
and that it is really a 14 combination of the two. tf
The scientific value of Hindu anatomy would, therefore, depend on that
of the osteological systems of the two principal schools of medicine. ‘ 4 Ac¬
cording to modern anatomy, 1 there are about 200 bones in the adult human
skeleton. The early Indian anatomists, on the other hand, count either
360 (Atreya) or 300 (Susruta) bones. This large excess is principally due to
the fact that (besides including the teeth, nails and cartilages) they counted
prominent parts of bones, such as are known as 4 processes ’ or 4 protuber¬
ances,* as if they were separate bones.*’ As for the difference in the systems
of Charaka and Susruta, Dr. Hoernle remarks :* 44 The statement of Dr. Wise
(Hindu System of Medtcim, p. 52) that the 4 difference [between Susruta's
total 300 and Charaka’s total 360] is owing to their counting the cartilages
with the bones ’ is hardly correct. Both writers include cartilages in their
counts, though in different ways. The difference in their totals is mainly due
to Charaka’s counting the 32 sockets of the teeth as separate bones, and his
including the 20 nails, neither of which are admitted in the count of Susruta.”
In the third section of his work, that on the anatomical identifications,
Hoarnle’s verdict on the Hindu systems of osteology is given. He says :
44 The views of the early Indian anatomists are surprisingly accurate. This
is due to the fact that they were accustomed to the practice of preparing
the dead human body for actual examination, and that, therefore, their views
were the direct result of an experimental knowledge of the skeleton. It is
true that the compendium of Charaka contains no reference whatever to the
practice of human dissection ; and it must, therefore, remain doubtful whether,
and to what extent, that practice was observed in the school of Atreya. But
there can be no doubt as to the practice being known and observed in the
school of Susruta, for his compendium contains a passage * which gives
detailed instructions regarding the procedure to be adopted in preparing
a dead body for anatomical examination.”
The following remarks from his Preface may also be quoted : 44 Probably
it will come as a surprise to many, as it did to myself, to discover the amount
of anatomical knowledge which is disclosed in the works of the earliest
medical writers of India. Its extent and accuracy are surprising, when we
allow for their early age—probably the sixth century before Christ—and
their peculiar methods of definition. • • • No satisfactory knowledge of
human anatomy can be attained without recourse to human dissection. * * *
It is worthy of note, however, that in the writings of neither of these two
oldest Indian medical writers is there any indication of the practice of animal
* Hoernle, p. 115. The explanation for counting in this manner has also been given.
* P.81.
* The passage ooours at the end of the fifth chapter of Bariratthdna, vide Hoernle,
88
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dissection. The only mention of an animal subject is in connexion with train¬
ing in surgery. Thus'puncturing'is to be practised by the medical pupil ‘on
the veins of dead animals and on the stalks of water-lily,’ similarly, ' extricat¬
ing,' on the pulps of various kinds of fruits and 4 on the teeth of dead animals. 1
(c) Propagation of Anatomical Knowledge in Hindu India .
In ancient and mediaeval India the knowledge of anatomy, whether ele¬
mentary or advanced, was extensively diffused. There are reasons to believe
that it was almost universal and not confined only within the circle of students
and young men, called BrahmachSris, who received lessons in one or other of
the various types of educational institutions. It was scattered broadcast through
conventions, traditional usages, canons or rules of art and industry, social
and religious practices, Tantric rites, and numerous popular ceremonies
among the millions whose vocation in life was no nobler than what in terms
of modern socio-ecomomic science may be grouped under (a) mechanical
or automatic manual work, (6) responsible or intelligent manual work or
even (c) mechanical or automatic brain-work.
The reasons are not far to seek. It is superfluous to remark that it
is the numerous schools of Hindu medicine that have preserved and more
or less developed the medical knowledge and literature of India through the
ages. In every part of the country these have been the direct fountain
heads of anatomical research and investigation, and have propagated through
their professoriat and alumni, whose number has ever been considerable,
the knowledge of the parts of the human (as well as animal?) body among the
lay non-medical community at large.'The importance attached by ancient
Hindu thinkers to anatomical knowledge is to be gathered, however, from
the provision they made for its inclusion in the curriculum of studies even
for those scholars who would not specialise in Ayurveda. We are thus led to
surmise that they wanted to make it an integral part of the liberal education
of non-medical Brahmach&ris also, and to form an estimate of the pedagogic
theory that underlay their educational movements.
There is no doubt that, under the regulations of the Hindu Universities
of ancient and mediaeval India, a course of anatomy had to be offered by students
of law (and social science), Theology as well as of Astronomy (and Astrology).
The incorporation of anatomical chapters in some of the traditional text-books
on Smriti Sastras, Dharma Sutras, Puraijas, Jyotisa,&c., and the commentaries
on them by successive schools of scholars who were generally non-medical men,
undoubtedly point to the facts—
(i) that even those who would not study Ayurveda did not go without
a few lessons in anatomy (something like the 1 short-term courses’ in modern
western Universities),
(a) that even non-medical men had sufficient knowledge of the subject to
write commentaries on the medical topics in the treatises on Law, Sociology,
Religion, &c.
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(3) that the anatomical chapters of noiwnedical Sdstras corresponding to
the anatomical primers and handbooks of modern times, had an important
position in the literature of Hindusthan ; and, as integral parts of social and
religious works, which may be looked upon as more or less the Encyclopedia
Indicas , found a place in every man’s library.
We have already noticed in connexion with the survey of Hindu anatomy,
what Hcernle 1 calls the “ Non-medical version ” of Atreya-Charaka’s System
of Osteology. This non-medical version is found (a) in two religious text-books,
viz. , (i) Visnudharmotlarapurdna and (2) Agnipurdna % and (b) in two legal
text-books, (1) Ydjnavalkya Dharma Sdstra and (2) Vi$nu Smriti . There are
certain particulars with regard to the incorporation of anatomical chapters in
these works which point to the recognition of their importance to non-medical
students by those responsible for it.
In the Institutes of Visnu “ the passage is in no way required by the
context * 9 incorporated into the text from some other work.” Hoernle be¬
lieves “ the passage was inserted into the Institutes by some one who was
familiar with the Mitdksard* commentary on the Law-Book.” The prose
statement in Vi$nu is only a paraphrase and “ otiose amplification ” of the
metrical section in Ydjnavalkya . Again, a comparison of the 369th chapter,
called Sarirdvayavah % or Parts of the Human Body, in the Agnipurdna with the
chapter on Anatomy in the Vi^nudharmottarapurdna shows that about two-
thirds of its contents are “literally plagiarised from it , 99 “The Law-Book
of Ydjnavalkya is the original source of the Non-medical version, from which
it passed into the Institutes 0 / Vi$nu and into the two Purdijas.”
Without entering into a discussion of the differences in the anatomical
knowledge displayed in these norf*medical treatises, it would be sufficient for
our purposes to remark that the tendency of incorporating medical chapters
with non-medical works.
(1) began as early as at least the 4th century A.D.), when Ydjnavalkya,
author of the celebrated Smriti, is supposed to have flourished;
(2) that it has been kept up by latter-day professors of Theology and
Sociology, (i) in the Visijudharmottara (at least as early as 1100 A.D.), (ii) in
Vi§gu Smriti (at any rate before 1622 s A.D.) and (iii) in the Agnipurdna (at
the latest 1650 A. D.) ; s
‘ Pp. 40-46.
*“ Whoever drew up the list as we find it in the Institutes, did so on the basis of
Vij nines Ware’s interpretation; and accordingly the introduction of that list in the Institute s
cannot be placed earlier than the date of Vijnftneswara, that is after 1100 A.D. Seeing
that the Institutes of VitW appears to be often quoted in the Mitftkfarft, it does not
seem impossible that the appearance of the list in the Institutes is due to Vijnftneswara
himself. ” Hosmle, pp. 59-00
* These dates refer to the introduction or interpolation of the anatomical chapters
In the works, not to the general body of the works themselves.
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and (3) that it has been preserved by the efforts of successive schools of
lay commentators to explain the medical ideas, according to the culture of the
ages in which they lived, e.g. % (i) VijnAneswara (MitAksarA, c. 1100 A.D.), (ii)
AparArka, who though a near contemporary of VijnAneswara (1150), holds an
independent view in the interpretation of Yajnavalkya, (iii) SulapAgi (15th cent.)
and (iv) Mitra Misra (17th century), both following the lead of VijnAneswara.
The same conclusion is arrived at by the fact that a small manuscript,
called Sartra , 1 or anatomy, has been discovered in the collection preserved in
the Tubingen University Library. Its age and author are unknown. Its
versified contents are compiled from many different sources, some of which are
quoted by name, eg., Charaka, Yogamuktdvali , Kauldvali , &c. Its statement
on the Skeleton is taken from the Law-Book of Yajnavalkya, though the source
is not named. But an important error of Yajnavalkya “ was detected and
corrected by the unknown author of the Anatomy."
The extract from the Brihat Satphitd quoted previously also points to
the intimate association of anatomy with general Hindu literature and its place
in the scheme of education in Jyoliqa (which is not equivalent to what in modern
times is called Astronomy, but includes Astrology, Mathematics and many other
topics of a social and economic nature). From the very definition of the scope
and province of Jyotisa and of its three branches— Hord, Tantra and Anga-
vinischaya—m well as the description of the Jyotisaka,* or the man versed in
SamhitA, Astronomy, and Horoscopy, it would be clear that at least such know¬
ledge of anatomy, physiology, and embryology, as furnishes a working idea of
the parts of the body, the nativity, external features of man and animals, is an
essential item in the equipment of the students of this science.
From considerations like these relating to the scope of Hindu literature
on non-medical subjects we are reasonably led to believe that in ancient
and mediaeval India no Hindu BrahmachAri was left without the knowledge
of a little anatomy; and that the references to limbs or features of human
or animal life that we meet with in poetical works, SilpasAstras, Tantras,
sacrificial and religious catechisms, or allegorical, moral and didactic treati¬
ses are not due to commonplace observations that may be expected of the
man in the street, but presuppose, in the absence of evidences to the con¬
trary, the education received by the poets, priests, moralists, story-tellers,
scientists and scholars, in their Brahmacharya Asram.
It is this universality of the anatomical instruction imparted by the gurus
or professors to their pupils which explains the popularisation of knowledge
about parts of the body among the community, and its influence on the arts
and industries designed to imitate or reproduce human beings or animals. It
is this, again, which has left its mark on the Theory and Philosophy of
Hindu Art including Architecture, Sculpture and Painting. The 4 masters* are
very strict in their injunctions that the sculptors and painters should follow with
1 Fcernle, pp. (11-A2147.
* Bee the first two chapters of Brihat 8arphitd*
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religious and mathematical accuracy, the anatomical measurements laid down
by them regarding the construction of images of gods and their v&hanas or con¬
veyances or symbols*
These canons of Hindu art prove (i) a thorough knowledge of anatomy on
the part of the promulgator and (a) their desire to perpetuate and propagate,
through more or less durable embodiments, the national ideals of beauty in art
as consisting in the closest conformity of artists with the specimens of sym¬
metry and order exhibited by Nature in her great museum of the living
universe. Once presented in art, the canons became conventional and have
been traditionally followed by sculptors, painters, artists and craftsmen, even
by those among them who had not received theoretical or demonstrational
lessons in anatomy at schools, from books or from professors. And, besides
satisfying the spiritual sense of generations of devoted spectators, both educated
and illiterate, these images and works of plastic and other arts have served for
them the double purpose of anatomical models as well as object-lessons in
aesthetic perfectionbeing at once the national schools of religious, secular and
artistic education and culture.
(d) Human Anatomy in Sukraniti .
The Sukra authors must have had adequate knowledge of human and
animal anatomy, as is evident from their care in noting, according to the
injunctions of specialists in art-literature, the features of the body in the
section on images of gods, and also the external characteristics of animals
in the treatment of the economic topics connected with them. The names
of the parts of the human body, and their measurements according as the
images are to be 7, 8, 9, 10 or 12 tdlas (feet) high, will be described in the
chapter on the Data of ancient Indian art. Here we shall mention the anatomi¬
cal features described by SukrAch&ryya in the section on the animal-force
of the Hindu state.
(e) External Anatomy of Horses^ Elephants , &c.
It is only the horse that has been fully described in Sukraniti- The
Sukra authors have given the measurements of the limbs of horses, most
probably, as it would appear, to help sculptors in their art. For say they:
“ If an image 1 is to be made, the appropriate pattern or model should always
be placed in front. No image can be made without a model. So the artist
should frame the limbs after meditating on the horse, and finding out the
measurements and attributes of horses in the manner indicated above.” The
place of animal-anatomy in Hindu art is quite clear from this extract. But
SukrSchAryya intends these measurements to be remembered also by non¬
artists, i.e. t lay men, whether merchants or rulers or warriors in their sales
and purchases of horses.
The general remarks on the quality of horses as known from the
proportion between the parts of their body are given in IV, vii, 85-95.
18akjraiy yii> 14M?
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We have to remember two things about horse-measurements
(0 5 yavas=i angula.
(2) The limbs of horses are to have a fixed proportion to the face.
The quality of horses is indicated thus
The best horse has a face of 24 angulas.
Second class „ „ 36 „
Third class „ „ 32 „
Inferior or ordinary „ 28 „
Ordinary horse-measurements are given below:—
Height or statore ... ... ... 8 faces.
Length ... .. ... ... 44 „
Girth ... * .~ ... ... 8+8 angolas.
The following are the measurements of the 28 angula-type of Horses :—
(t) Heights . 1
1.
Heel or hoof (tiapha)
3 angulas.
2.
Ankle-joint or fetlock ( Manivandha)
4
n
8.
Foreleg or shanks ( Janghd) ...
20
tt
4.
Knee (Janu)
8
it
5.
Fore-thigh or elbow (Uru) ...
**
tt
6.
Thigh to neck
88
it
7 .
Hind thighs (Uru )...
28
a
8.
Hind legs ( Janghd )
21
tt
9.
Neck *
18
tt
(it) Lengths /
1.
Neck (GrivA)
60 angulas.
2.
Body (from end of neck to organ)
60
tt
8.
From organ to end of vertebral column
18
it
4.
Tail ( Puchchhadanda)
14
it
5.
Genital organ
14
it
6.
Testicles
14
tt
7 .
Bar
6, 4 or 6 angulas
8.
Mane or hair of neck 4
1 cubit.
9.
Hair of tail*
1£ or 2 cubits.
10.
Bye * ...
8 or 4 angulas.
(>7i) Circumferences
1.
Heel or hoof
15 angulas.
2.
Ankle-joint
74
tt
3.
Foreleg or shanks
74
»»
4.
Fore-thigh
11
it
5.
Hind thigh
88
tt
6.
Hock of the ankle-joint
9
tt
7.
Hind leg
74
tt
1 Sukra IV, vii, 06-101. • Sukra IV, vii, 108-108.
’Sukra IV, vii, 104. 4 ‘ • Sukra IV, vii, 118-122.
* Sukra IV, vii, 109-115.
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8.
Forepart of neck 1
... 82
n
9.
End of neck *
... 46
,1
10.
Forehead *
... 86
11
11.
Face at the nOse below the eye 4
... 19
*»
(iv) Distances , breadth % width or space .
1.
Between two thighs at the back
... 1 angnla.
2.
The neck on which hair grows
... 1J
»»
8.
Ear
... 8 or 4 an galas
4.
Breast... ... ...
... 19
*1
5.
Eye
... 2 or 21
»»
6.
Between two thighs
... 9
»*
7 .
„ „ eyes
... 5
11
8.
,1 1, ears ...
... 5
11
9.
„ eye and ear
... 5
*♦
10.
„ two heels
...6, 7, Ac.
♦»
11.
„ two pnpils of eyes...
... 9
»»
12.
„ „ eye-brows
... 9
99
13.
„ eye and nose
... 9
*»
14.
„ two nostrils
... 8
99
15.
„ arms at breast
... 4
♦»
16.
Lower lip
... 11
♦»
17.
Upper lip ... ...
... 9
♦»
18.
Between back and breast ...
... If cubits.
About Elephants the following measurements are given in IV, vii, 77-84.
-8 yavas =1 angula
24 angulas= 1 cubit.]
Bhadra.
Mandra.
Mriga.
Height ... 7 cnbits.
6 cubits.
5 cubits,
Length ... 8 „
8 „
7 „
Girth ... 10 „
9 „
8 „
About Bulls Sukra authors record the following measurements in IV.
vii, 299-302:—
Girth = 4 times face.
Height+hump = 8 „
Length = 81 „
The best animal has 7 tdlas or feet in height.
The good height of camels is known to be 9 t&las or feet/
(/) Dentition and Age of Animals.
The following table gives the duration of the periods of youth/ manhood
and old age, as applied to the five principal vertebrates
Maximum age.
Youth.
Middle age.
Man
... 100 years.
20 years.
60 years.
Elephant
... 100 ,,
20 „
80 „
Horse
... 84 „
6 „
10 99
Bull
... 25 „
5 „
16 „
Oamel
... 25 „
5 11
16 „
1 a • 4 sukra iy, yii, 124-128, * Sukra IV, vii, 864-5, * Sukra IV, vii, 806-618,
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The age of both bulls and horses is to be known from the growth and
colour of teeth. 1 There is no information about the tusks of elephants.
The whole dental structure of horses is thus described in the Fauna of
British India
14 Dentition : Incisors }, Canines Premolars |=|> Molars Canines
generally wanting in females. There is sometimes an additional small ante¬
rior upper premolar. The incisors have a flat crown, with at first a deep hollow
in the middle ; this (the 44 mark ” in horses) disappears with age."
It is evident that Sukr&ch&ryya, in describing the changes in the development
and colour of the six teeth as the guide to the age of horses, is referring to the
Incisors or Anterior teeth. This is the practice recognised by the modern
science of equine dentistry also. The structural changes in the Back teeth,
called Molars or Grinders, afford a very good index of the age of the horse
up to the period when they are completed, namely, four years old. But after
the fourth year the molars are not often taken into consideration in determining
the age of the horse.
Further, these six incisors described in Sukranili do all belong to the lower
jaw. Fitzwygram also in his chapter on 4 age,’ as indicated by teeth, confines his
remarks to the incisors of the lower jaw, 44 as the structural changes which take
place in the upper are nearly similar.
The distinction between Temporary or Milk Incisors and Permanent
Incisors, as given by Sukra authors, both as regards the time of development
and discolouration, is also borne out by modern science. 44 The discolouration
is due to the lodgement of the juices and other matters connected with the
food in the grooves.”
The following extract from Horses and Stables coroborrates the Sukra
theory of Dentition stated in IV, vii, 315-20 : “ The foal is born with his teeth
in a rudimentary state in the gums. * * * The yearling is complete in
all six incisors (315)1 but several well-marked signs distinguish his mouth
from that of the two years old (316). * * * A few months before 3 years
old, the horse sheds the two centre milk-teeth which are replaced by perma¬
nent. * * * A few months before four, the horse sheds the two nextmilk-
teeth which are replaced by permanent (318). * * * A few months before
five the horse sheds the two remaining milk-teeth which are replaced by perma¬
nent (319-) Thus the jaw is now furnished with six permanent incisors.”
After the dental structure is complete, the guide to the age of horses is
colour, as detailed by Sukrkcharyya in IV, vii, 320-324. This is the modern
theory also. Says Fitzwygram: 44 At and after six, we are compelled to have
recourse to the indications given by the marks and other slight but gradual
alterations which take place in the form of the teeth and their position. * * *
The mark is in a constantly changing condition.”
> Sukra IV, vii, 814 .
2 Pp. 418 - 19 ,
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The science of equine dentistry has been treated by the authors of Aswa-
vaidyaka and Aswachikitsita published in the Bibliotheca Indies Series. There
is a general agreement between SukrAch&ryya, Jayadatta and Nakula as
regards number, colour and development of the teeth as well as their help in
the determination of age. Jayadatta deals with the subject in the 4th chapter,
and Nakula in the 5th chapter of their works. The traditional order of colour
4 black, yellow, white, glass, honey, and conch* is the same in all the three
works.
The changes in the colour of horses* teeth according to age, as indicated
in Sukra IV, vii, 315-25, are given below
1st year ...
2nd „ ...
3rd—6th year
6tt»-0th „
9 th—12 th „
Uth—16th year
16th—18th „
18th—Slat „
31st—24th „
white.
blaok and red.
black.
»*
yellow.
white.
glass.
honey.
conch.
Since 24th year 1 the teeth get loose and separated and begin to fall
down every three years. The horse that has attained full age gets three cir¬
cular rows on the upper lip. The age is to be considered low in proportion as
the rows are less.
Regarding the dentition and age of bulls* we read
(1) All the eight white teeth of bulls grow in their 4th year. The two
extreme teeth fall down and are replaced in the 5th ; in the 6th, the next two;
in the 7th, the next two; and in the 8th, the central two.
(2) Every two years the teeth get black, yellow, white, red and conch¬
like in order. Then their looseness and fall commence.
Thus each colour lasts for two years. And as all the teeth get finally rep¬
laced in eight years, the colour changes up to the 18th. It is evident that Sukrd-
charyya means the eight incisors of the lower jaw; as would appear from the
dentition of the Bovide described by Murray in the Vertebrate Zoology of Sind :
44 Teeth of two or three kinds. Incisors eight below. Molars six on each side in
each jaw. Canines more or less developed. Front of upper jaw toothless. 1 ’
Sukra authors say nothing particularly about camels. We are simply told
that the age of camels has to be understood from considerations like these. 9
Section 17.
Organisation of the Veterinary Department in Sukra Polity .
Iq the previous sections we have dealt with what the Sukra authors have
recorded about the Zoosphere of their country in both its biological and
1 Sukra IV, vii, 825-7. 1 Sukra IV, vii, 332-37.
» Sukra IV, vii, 338.
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economic or utilitarian aspects. We have found that the main references in
Surkantti to the live-stock of the land are from the standpoint of the state,
especially its military department. The live-stock as belonging to the people
have been but casually noticed and have to be inferred from the incidental
analogies and illustrations and from the passing remarks in connexion with
revenue, agriculture, commerce and industries. It is, therefore, natural that the
authors should supply some information about the management and adminis¬
tration of the Veterinary Department in their state
The Veterinary Department of the Sukra state does not, however, attend
to the military live-stock exclusively, though details about this only are available
in Sukranlti. It is an organisation addressing itself to the needs of the total
live-stock of the state, agricultural cattle, draught-animals, the Fauna in the
Zoological Gardens or State Forests, as well as the Animal-Corps, and may be
taken to have been divided into two branches, Civil and Military.
The administrative machinery of the Sukra Polity consists of a highly
differentiated Bureaucracy divided into special Departments or Bureaus for the
management of executive affairs. The Veterinary Department (Civil and Mili¬
tary) is one such Bureau presided over by one of the highest Executive Heads
called Ministers or Secretaries, and supervising, guiding and controlling the
work of varying grades of officers entrusted with the charge of sectional and
sub-sectional affairs. The hierarchy from the menials at the lowest rung of the
official ladder to the highest functionary through intermediate grades of officers
is complete in the Veterinary as in the many other departments of the Sukra
state.
The Sukra Polity recognises io Prakritis 1 (Executive Councillors, Depart¬
mental Heads, Ministers or Secretaries). These are (i) Purodhd (Priest),
(2) Pratinidhi (Viceroy), (3) Pradhdna (Superintendent, Chief Secretary or
Prime Minister), (4) Sachiva (War Secretary), (5) Mantri (Foreign Secretary
or Diplomatist), (6) Pandila (Learned Adviser or Law Secretary), (7) Prd$-
viveka (Chief Justice), (8) Amdtya (Land Revenue Secretary), (9) Sumantra
(Finance Minister), (10) Duta (Ambassador or Spy), in order of precedence and
dignity. Sukrkcharyya states another theory* according to which, the Prakritis
are 8, excluding the priest and the spy. But according to him 44 the priest* is
superior to all others—the mainstay of the king and the kingdom,*’ and the
spy* is a 44 servant of the rest.” The priest and the spy are thus too important
to be ignored in the enumeration of the Prakritis. So Sukra authors reject
the Doctrine of Eight Councillors.
The organisation of the Veterinary Department is typical of all the rest
in the symmetrical and scientific scheme devised by the Sukra statesmen.
The picture presented in SnkranUi is not one of a simple primitive political life
in which the man in the street is fit to be a judge, a warrior and a ruler by turns
1 Sukra 1L 141-148. * Sukra 11,150.
* Sukra II, 145-47. 4 Sukra II, 140.
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as in the ancient city, states, but one of a complex organisation which requires
specialised functionaries for the discharge of its functions, and hence demands
of each a specialised training as Judge, Financier, Commander, etc.
The department of the veterinary interests of the state is managed
in the following way
I. —The King is not a mere “ dignified part ” of the Sukra constitution.
Besides serving the purpose of an ornamental figurehead, he has to discharge
several important functions, and is thus an “ efficient part ” 1 also.
According to the Code of Education for princes the king is bound to be a
good sportsman. So far as the Veterinary Department is concerned, 11 he has
to spend one muhurta (48 minutes) at dawn in exercises over elephants, horses,
&c., spend four muhurtas over (among other things) writing orders relating to
the army, spend two muhurtas in consultation with the Chief Justice and
other ministers , the same period in hunting, &c., one muhurta over military
exercises, &c.”
The king's contact* with the department of live-stock is further advised
in the following lines :
“ He should every morning and evening exercise himself with elephants,
horses, chariots, and other conveyances. And he should learn as well as
teach the military arrangements of soldiers. He should sport with tigers,
peacocks, birds, and other animals of the forest, and in the course of the
hunting should kill the wild ones."
The following rules 5 bring out, again, the very important function of the
king in Sukra Polity generally, and in its Veterinary Department in particular :
"The ministers are likely to be dumb (i>., silent) through the passions, cupi¬
dity, and fear of the king. The king should receive in written form the
opinions of each separately with all his arguments, compare them with his own
opinion and then accept the will of the majority. The king should every day
examine the elephants, horses, chariots, cattle, servants, officers, provisions and
soldiers, and preserve or maintain the able and give up the very old."
II. —The Sachiva (War-Minister) and his Council :
(a) The main brunt of the administration of the veterinary interests of
the state falls, of course, on the War-Minister, the Sachiva. The constitutional
position of ministers or Prakritis in the Sukra state and. their relations with
the king as well as among themselves need not be discussed here. We
have to note simply that one of the many items of business that come up
before, and have to be administered by, the Portfolio of Sachiva , i^ that
1 See the king's daily routine and time-table of work framed by Sukr&ch&ryya
I, 661-570. Vide also I, 600, 670-8. The king's important position in the administration of
justice has also to be noted. All these topics will be treated at length in Yol. II. (Political).
* Sukra I, 668-666. It may be noticed here that K&mandaka also in his MU
Sdstru provides for a regulated exercise with the wild games, &c., in State Fdrests, though
he Is very particular against the vice or vyamna of hunting.
* Sukra 1 , 780 - 86 ,
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relating to the Civil and Military sections of the Veterinary Department of
the kingdom. Thus we read that 44 the Sachiva 1 has to study the elephants,
horses, chariots, foot-soldiers, camels, oxen, bandsmen, &c., * * * and
communicate the result of his studies to the king.”
(b) Like the other Prakritis or Ministers, the War-Minister, also is
not to be alone in his jurisdiction. Like the Pradhdna and others, the Sachiva
is to have a council consisting of two members besides himself:
u The king should always appoint three men* for each department—the
wisest of them all at the head and two others as overseers, for 3, 5, 7 or 10 years,
and, having noticed each officer’s qualifications for the entrusted work, should
make the necessary changes.” This War-Council with its President, the
Sachiva , is thus the real focus of responsibility regarding the Veterinary
Department.
III.—The officials of 44 generalised ability” (and of higher rank) :
(a) The administrative system of Sukrdchdryya is highly specialised,
as we have noticed above. With regard to the Veterinary Department the
rule is that the king should appoint separate officers as 41 the heads or
Superintendents* of elephants, horses, cattle, camels, deer, birds,” &c.
The Civil Service Regulations applicable to all the officials in the State are
indicated by the following: (i) 14 As the officer becomes qualified 4 for the higher
and higer functions, he should be appointed to the higher and higher posts. At
the end he should be a Prakriti (t.i., one of the 10 highest Executive
Councillors), (ii) The king should appoint many overseers, superintendents,
or only one officer, without any overseer at all, according to the importance
of the jurisdiction to be managed. 5
(b) The superintendents in charge of the live-stock 6 may be recruited
from, among others, the members of the royal family.
(1 c ) The Superintendents or the higher grade office-bearers (something
like the Gazetted Officials of modern times) of the Veterinary Department are
being described below. These are to have the qualifications for understanding
the general interests bearing on the species of live-stock in the charge of each.
(1) The Superintendent of Elephants' (ddhorana) : The man who knows
of (i) the various species of elephants, e.g. t Pr&bhadra, Air&vata, Pundarika, &c„
(ii) their treatment, diseases and art of rearing them, (iii) the methods of
training them, (iv) who can discover and distinguish their qualities by studying
the roof the mouth, the tongue, the nails, &c., (v) who knows how to mount
them and guide their movements should be appointed to take care of elephants ; s
~ 1 Sukra II, 181-90. ‘ Sukra II, 234-35.
3 Sukra II, 220-24. * Sukra I, 699.
» Sukra II, 287-88. ’ Sukra II, 256-69.
4 Sukra II, 282-88.
* According to Eautilya this officer called Hastyadhyakfa has two functions: ( 1 ) to see
that the Blophant-Forests are well-protected (by the officer called Ndgavanapdla and his
ministerial staff), and (2) to superintend the internal managements in the Blephant stables
and the proper training by experts. This second function only has beeh described by Snkra.
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for he is sure to captivate their heart. This officer must have graduated in
the whole science of Elephants in both theoretical and practical, as well as
biological and economic branches.
(2) The Superintendent of Hordes (aswddhipati). 1 he mad (i) who knows 1 * *
of the feelings of horses, and (ii) can discover and distinguish their qualities
by studying their breeds, colour and feathery rings, (iii) who knows how to
guide, train and treat them, (iv) and is aware of their mettle, spirit and diseases,
(v) who knows what is good and bad nourishment for them, (vi) who knows
of their weight, their gait, their capacity for bearing weights, their teeth and
their age, (vii) and who, besides, is valorous, an adept in military parades and is
wise, should be appointed to the superintendentship of horses. The qualifica¬
tions for this officer are a thorough mastery in the whole science relating to
horses and horse life.
(3> The Superintendents of fiulls and Camels corresponding to those
of Horses and Elephants, and Officers of the same grade relating to agricul¬
tural cattle, Birds and other species of Live-stock have not been described in
Sukranlti, but may be inferred to have been such persons as were well-qualL
tied in the sciences bearing on the Fauna in question.
IV.—Experts, ministerial officers and menials :
The officers and men connected with the actual tending and management
of live-stock must be specialists in the narrower range of duties classified
according to the principle of the Division of Labour. They need not be well
up in the solution of general problems affecting the department or have a
wider and more comprehensive outlook than what is absolutely necessary in
attending to the 4 details * and minuter points of their work. They are what
in terms of modern social sciences would be called the men of 14 specialised
skill.” As a matter of fact, Sukra knows them to be specialists in the two
kalds or arts,* viz., of (1) driving and (a) training horses and elephants, &c.
About the appointment of such experts and skilled men, i.e. t staff of the
lower rank, viz., in the Veterinary Department, we have the following rules
(i) Those men are to be masters of goats, 9 sheep, cows, buffaloes, deer,
&c., who are skilful in tending and rearing them and who have love for these
animals.
(ii) Of like qualifications there should be appointed men to serve ele¬
phants, camels 4 &c.
(iii) Other officers are those of a warlike disposition, who know how to
domesticate birds,* teach parrots, and know when hawks fail victims to arrow*'
as well as the inward feelings of these animals.
1 Sukra II, 260-08.
- Sukra IV, iii. 166.
> Sukra II, 297-98.
4 Sukra II, 299.
4 Sukra II, 800-802.
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(iv) Regarding horses Sukra authors mention three classes of skilled 1
staff r—-
(a) The sddi or horseman is he who is brave, versed in military parades
and battle-arrays and knows of the movemenfs of horses, &c.
(b) The sik^aka or trainer of horses is he who (a) knows of the 11 kinds
of horses’movements: (i) Circular (2) galloping, (3) prancing, (4) trotting,
(5) jumping, (6) speedy, (7) slow or sluggish, (8) tortuous, (9) serpentine, (10)
rolling or revolving, (11) galloping at full speed; and (s) can break them
according to their strength and the uses to which they would be put.
(r) The sevaka or groom is he who can serve the horses well, who knows
how to place the saddles, &c., and who is able-bodied and brave.
In this organisation of the Veterinary Department we have to notice
(1) the fact that it is, as in modern states, administered by the Military
Portfolio^
(2) the principle of scientific administration that underlies the whole
Bureaucratic organisation of modern politics. This is illustrated, in the case of
Sukrantti, as we have just noticed—
(а) horizontally, by the introduction of specialisation and differentiation
of functionaries through a careful division of functions, and
(б) vertically, by the gradual introduction of greater and greater degrees
of complexity and generalisation into the work of upper grades* from the simple,
homogeneous, specialised functions of the lowest man at the bottom, the
groom.
It is not possible from Sukrantti to-form an estimate of the expenditure
on the Veterinary Department. But the Arthasdstra supplies substantial in¬
formation about salaries, wages, fines, rations, &c.
The following extract from Mr. Law’s Hindu Polity gives a few more
members of the Cavalry.Staff, as well as a few rules that obtained under
Charidragupta Maurya pertaining to the Department of Live-stock: 14 The
grooms ( Sutragrdhaka ), those who bound them in stables (aswavandhaka),
those who- supplied meadow grass (ydvasika), those who prepared the meals
of horses (1 vidhapdchaka ), those who watched the stables (sthdnapdlaka), those
who dressed the hair (ktsakdra), and those who detected poison ijanguUvidah)
were liable to a fine of a day’s wage for neglect of duty. These jangulividah
were the grooms, the cooks and the veterinary surgeons, for it.wgs they who
had to taste the food of the horses^”
The two lists of officers given below are supplied by Kautilyar
(a) Relating to the capture of elephants :
1. NAgavanap&la (superintendent of elephant forests), different from the
Hastyadhyak$a or Adhorana (Sukra) described above.
■ Sukra II, 268-75,
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9. His assistants:
i. Hastipaka (driver)’
ii. Pddapdsik a (who slips nooses round the legs),
iii. Saimika (boundary guard),
iv. Parikartnika (servants for miscellaneous works),
v. Vanacharaha (foresters),
vi. Anikastha (trainers).
(b) Stabling staff:
1 . Chikitsaka (doctors),
2. Anikastha (trainers),
3. Arohaka (drivers),
4. Ad ho r ana (experts who can control the paces of elephants),
5. Hastipaka (grooms),
6. Oupacharika (attendants),
7. Vidhapbckaka (cooks),
8. Ydvasika (grass suppliers),
9. Pddapdsika, (who slips nooses round the legs),
10. Kutirak$a (guards))
11. Upasdyika (who take care of the auiraals at night).
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APPENDICES
BY
Dr. BRAJENDRA NATH SEAL, M,A m Ph D.,
KING GBORGB V PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA.
[It is the privilege of the author to publish along with this work the monographs
of Dr. Seal on the mechanical, the physical and the biological theories of the Hindus as
well as on the Hindu classification of plants and animals.
It has to be stated with regret that the author could not avail himself of the
advantage of discussion with the distinguished savant on the various topics dealt with
in the “ Positive Background,” and that Dr. 8eal’s papers reached his hands after the work
had been in the press.]
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APPENDIX A.
HINDU IDEAS ABOUT PLANTS AND PLANT-LIFE.
SlOTXON 1.
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS.
Oharaka Plants according to Oharaka are divisible into (1) Vanaspatit, trees bear-
ing fruit without flowers; (2) Vdnaapatyaa, trees bearing flowers as well as fruits ; (8)
Aufadhia , herbs that wither after fructification; and (4) Virudht, other herbs with spread*
ing stems.
Ohakrap&ni Chakrapftni notes in his commentary on Cbaraka : the Virudht com¬
prise two classes (1) Latda, creepers; (2) Gulmaa, herbs with succulent (or cactaceous)
stems and shrubs. The aufadhia are sub-divided into(t) annuals or perennials, bearing
fruit, and (2) plants that wither away after maturing and without fructification, e.g.,
grasses like the Durvd (Cynodon daotylon).
Bmruta and Dalvana Susruta’s division is identical with Charaka*s. Dalvana,
the commentator, gives some details. The plakfa (Ficus infeotoria) and the Udumvara
(Ficus glomerata) are given as instances of trees bearing fruits without flowers
( vanaspatia ). It appears that plants with naked and incomplete flowers (Aohlamy-
deous plants) were considered as flowerless, as also trees whose flowers like those of
the fig are placed on the internal walls of a common receptacle. Of the Brik$aa flower
and fruit-bearing trees, the mango tree, the Jambu tree (Eugenia jambolana) Ac., are
given as examples. The virudha are of two classes—(L) creepers with stems spreading
on the ground ( nwwi: ) and (2) herbs, with succulent (or cactaceous) stems ftfaw: or
WfWHlWflfitfsfafr:). Au§adhi§ are those that wither away after fructification,
e.0., wheat, barley Ac., Some divide aufadhia into two classes (1) those
that wither after bearing fruit, e.g., paddy, linseed, pulses, Ac., and (2) plants that wither
after maturity, and bear neither flowers nor fruits, e.p., the mushroom, Ac.
Prasastapdda:—Prasastap&da, the Vaisesika Doctor, classifies plants as follows (1)
Triyaa, grasses ; (2) Aupidhia, herbs that wither after fructification ; (8) Latda, spreading
and creeping herbs ; (4) Avatcinaa, arboraceous plants and shrubs ; (5) Brikaaa, trees bear¬
ing flowers and fruits; and (6) Vanaapati8 , trees bearing fruits without flowers.
Sridhara Sridhara in the Kandali gives ulapa as an example of a grass, wheat as an
example of autfidhi (annual), the ketaki (Pandanus odoratisaimus) and the Vijapura (Citrus
medica) as examples of avatdnaa (Vitapas, arboraceous plants), the Koviddra (Buihinia)
as an example of flower and fruit-bearing tree and the audumvara (Ficus glomerata)
as an example of a vanaapati (flowerless fruit-bearing tree).
Uduyaiia Udayana in the Kira-t&vali notes the ku$mdnda (a species of Ouourbita) as
an instance of a creeper (iatri), and the palms as modifications of the grasses THnaa.
Amara, the lexicographer, in the Vanaufadhioarga and the Vaiayavarga (enumeration
of wild plants and of food-grains) gives some interesting particulars. (1) The trees (the
flowering Brikaaa and the flowerless vanaapatia) are fruit-bearing, and possess woody stems
or trunks (w w « Next come (2) arboraceous plants
and shrubs ftp, fHWmfin: fc:) bearing flowers as well as fruits. (8) The latda are next no¬
ticed, flowering plants with herbaceous stems, some of them creeping on the ground
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others succulent others twining or voluble fww, smr—Amara. cf.
Mukuta, wyiij wjfh unrafct* «nw swift —others call this faw). Cf. Susruta—
www! nw<nn: jihww,
(4) Next come the attsadhia (in the narrower sense), herbaceous plants, bearing
fruit with or without flowers and dying or withering away after fructification. Some
instances of kandasdka (tubers, rhizomes, oorms) are noticed, e.g ., the p al&ndu (the
onion the lasuna (garlic, W^l)» &c. But the graminaceae enumerated
in the Vaisyavarga are the chief instances of the aufadhis— plants that die after
fructification. These are cultivated ati^adhis, but their affinities with the next class,
the grasses ( Tri ms ), are also noted {e.g-, Off 1 qnfrr ys wwfl sT f 1 f fuw w Osrcn 1
urffhwi * Last are enumerated (5) the Triyas, grasses, of which the characteristic
is the formation of gulmas, (culms of grasses with annular knots from which leaves spring—
). It is worthy of note that, in the enumeration of the grasses,
the bamboo is considered as a sort of giant grass (qwvam, grass flag, **). The
reeds (nuiqii:) are also placed among the grasses (»mr yuqu iq Nm r q m wy iu fo 1 uymqm Osnaqx:).
( 8 ) Finally, the Palmacere (including the cocoanut, date, areca, and other palms) are classed
as Tree grasses, probably because, like the grasses, they are endogens characterised by
spikes and parallel veins* urc$w*u prjjO©tc. wrt ^ fffiufm: nufa
N qwq^rTi—cf. also the Rdjanighantu).
I may add that Amara places (7) parasitical plants among the latds, (atfTTOfftt
WfT l Oafwi%PiO), They climb trees and feed upon them. These are to be distinguished
from climbing plants, like the guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), which have separate roots of
their own. They are also to be distinguished from the adventitious roots descending from
the branches of trees, like the Ficus religiose, which are .usually termed uvaroh&a (wftnp:).
The name siphd is ordinarily applied to the rootlets and suckers by which the
tendrils of various creepers are attached to the soil, (w ftw wfy: pnj 1 * 51 $: wnm:
swuP uft ftn*T t ^uifTU «ra? PUT i 3 * 13 $*$' * WIT ^ fWf—Amara with Bhanuji Diksita’s commentary.
But the Mukuta notes :—33 mwsfq wbf! I The guduchi is also
called uuuiffy *
The Hindu Materia Medica mentions Akdsavalli, lit. sky-creeper, a name which seems
to have been originally intended for some orchids ; also plava (lit. floating), weeds that
float in stagnant ponds, and Saiv&la, mosses and lichens. (e.g. t wfuu flu
_ Chakrapd ni-Samgraha, also Bhdva-Pi'akfisa). These are not classified, but like the
mushrooms must come under the Pdkani$tlia aufadhie, Ausadhis that die after maturing,
without bringing forth flowers or fruits.
Section 2.
ELEMENTARY IDEAS OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY.
Characteristics of plant life.
The Nydya-vindu-tikd of Dharmottara, the Buddhist Scholiast, notices the phenomenon
of sleep (contraction of leaves in the night) in certain plants (*ur: tnft uaqjta:)
Uday&na notices in plants the phenomena of life, death, sleep, waking disease, drug¬
ging, transmission of specific characters by means of ova, movement towards what
is favourable and away from what is unfavourable (w^: flewawiw
—Uday&na, ). 1 may
add that metaphors drawn from the heliotropic movements of the Suryyamukhi flower are
among the stock-in-trade of Sanskrit poetry and belles-lettres.
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The Jaina writer, Gunaratna , in his commentary on the 8 haddarsana-8amuchchaya
(circa 1850 A.D.), enumerates the following characteristics of the plant-life: (1) stages of
infancy, youth and age, (2) regular growth, (8) various kinds of movements or action,
connected with sleep, waking, expansion and contraction in response to touch, also move¬
ment towards a support or prop, (4) withering on wound or laceration of organs, (5)
assimilation of food according to the nature of the soil, (8) growth or decay by assimilation
of suitable or unsuitable food as prescribed in the science of the diseases of plants and
their treatment (TO3*0, (7) disease, (8) recovery from diseases or wounds by the appli¬
cation of drugs, (9) dryness or the opposite, due to the sap which answers to the chyle
(vs) in animals, and (10) special food favourable to impregnation.
rut nv a n e i ffaOMfl i fv Tmgwm ywufow i)
Even the Vanaspatis (flowerless, but fruit-bearing trees) may be made to flower (Cf. Vdraha-
mihira’s recipes for the treatment of plants for similar purposes).
(Cf. Gunaratna, Tarkarahasyadipikd , Jainamald, sloka 49).
Bankara Misra in the Upaksftra notes as an additional characteristic the growth
of organs (or tissues) by natural recuperation after wound or laceration*
Upaskara, Chap. IV, Ahnika 2, Sutra 5 S. B. H.Vol. vi).
Gunaratna gives a list of plants that exhibit the phenomena of sleep and waking
— ibid). He also notices the sensitive¬
ness to touch of plants like the Mimosa pudica wit, which show a manifest reaction
in the form of contraction (ibid).
Sexuality.
Very vague ideas were entertained as to the sexual characters of plants. The pollen
is called Rajas, pufpa, pmsuna ,—names which are also applied to the female menstruum-
and Amara expressly states that for females and flowers these elements (and the terms
signifying them are the same wWi 3*$ Amara, VanaiiQadhivarga). Charaka
(Dridhavala), indeed, distinguishes between the male and the female vatsa (or kutaja ),
considering the variety that bears white flowers and large fruits as male
Holarrhena antidysenterica), and that which bears red or yellow flowers and small
fruits as female WMiWJJwR ^Wrightia tinctoria ; Charaka, Kalpasth&na,
(Chap. 5); but this is hopelessly wrong. Even these vague ideas were afterwards
completely lost; and the Rajanighantu tells us of a grotesque division of plants into
male, female and hermaphrodite, based on the slender or stout, the soft or hard, the long
or short, the simple or mixed character of the stems and flowers! ( Rajanighantu , irwlh
sTfirss etc.)
Consciousness .
The Hindu Scriptures teach that plants have a sort of dormant or latent conscious¬
ness, and are capable of pleasure and pain (***:iw Chakrapfini
notes in the Bhdnumati that the consciouness of plants is a sort of stupefied (darkened or
comatose) consciouness V*) 1
Uday&na also notes that plants have a dormant unmanifested consciousness which is
extremely dull Rrfiro^rwijdfinw?, etc.)
The following slokas from the Mah&bh4rata may fitly conclude this section :
swpb rw * 1
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RtH; i
Mi^m; h
ajfl HE M^ffl I
m^pn *iwf jf%i iwinj wRu ^r. u
3*f y^w f4jww RRW^ i
fllf.* jRwi «Rn wirffwRn TOpW! N
^Rwn| ^riViBiTR ^vnj i
HnfynftftHiwj f^p?l ton u
PN%WIT^I QRIV^iJ I
wr wwij^ii fiwfii vr**: w
ntjirn fvm ^ w^iffw i
dWi qnrft nwmfli w i n fi*nl u *rfcraa$,^p*rcn *
APPENDIX B
HINDU CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS.
Section 1.
CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS.
Churaka.
Charaka mentions four primary divisions:—
(1) Jurdyuja, born from the uterus, or rather, placentalia, viviparous (no a-placent&l
mammals were known), e.g., man, the quadrupeds, etc.
(2) Aiidaja, born of an ovum (egg), comprising fishes, reptiles and birds.
(8) Svedaja (or Ufma'a) born of moisture and heat, spontaneously or a-sexualljr
generated, c.g., worms, mosquitoes, etc.
(4) Udvijju , born of vegetable organisms Opwi —
•S&rirasthana, Chapter III) RtR: srcfro^P^T *wf»u uumnnfrfrift^NT qRd^WRf Ibid.
Prasastaptida.
Prasastapada begins with two great divisions(1) Ayonija, animals that are
a-sexually generated, of small dimensions (5^)- (2) Yonija, sexually generated,
t.e., from the union of a sperm and a germ element. The latter are sub¬
divided into (a) Jardyuja , lit., placentalia, viviparous (no a-placental mammals
Were known), and (b) Andaja, oviparous. Man, the quadrupeds, domesticated and wild, etc.,
are given as examples of viviparous animals ; and birds, Sarisripas (reptiles, etc.) of ovi¬
parous animals.
Udayana.
Udayana in the Kirandvali notes that Jardyu means the placenta
srog: of. Sridbara in the Kandali , 5N utwl aronpn).
Udayana adds that the term * Sarisripa ,’ includes insects and fishes as well as reptiles,
these being all oviparous (<lChNi: 'iRw: TOuwdtau:
Putan/ali.
The a-sexually generated animals, as we have seen, are also called Kvudrajautu*
(lit. small animals). Patanjali ip the Mahdbhdifya gives several alternative definitions
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(or descriptions) of this class of animalsThey are defined (1) as animals without bones
or (2) as animals that do not possess any blood of their own **i **
t or (8) as numbering more than a thousand in a palmful, i.e., minute in size,
or (4) as not easily crushed, or (5) as comprehending all animals up to the ichneumon (in
the animal series) Mah4bhi$ya 2-4-1).
8 uaruta.
Susruta mentions four great divisions:—(1) Sansvedaja , born of moisture and heat.
This division is mentioned first, as Dal van a notes, because moisture and heat are essential
factors in the generation of all forms of animal life, including the classes that follow, (2)
Jardyuja , viviparous or placental, (8) Andaja , oviparous, and (4) Udvijja , bursting forth
(from the ground or perhaps from some previous unmanifest shape, e.g. f frogs, coccidm
etc.) The second, third and fourth classes are mentioned in the order of their import¬
ance. Subsequently the order of enumeration is changed (1) Jardyuja, (2) Andaja , (8)
Svedaja , (4) Udvijja . One reading gives the order (1) Svedaja, (2) Andaja, (8) Udvijja and
(4) Jar&yuja. Some commentators point out that the order in the text (whatever that may
be) is intended to indicate the order of creation by Brahmi.
Susruta mentions man, Vyila (carnivorous quadrupeds) and Patu (herbivorous quad¬
rupeds) as examples of the viviparous; birds, snakes and Sarieripa • as examples of the
oviparous; Krimit , Kitaa and Pipilikda (worms, insects, ants, etc.) as examples of the mois¬
ture-born ; and frogs and the coccidse (the cocoinella) as examples of the animals that
* burst forth f (eruptive or metamorphic ?)
Dalvana .
Daivana notes that the divisions are really cross-divisions and intended to
be such, as the natural divisions of. Jiva and species are not all exclusively oviparous or
exclusively viviparous. For example, among birds (vfa: winged animals), bats and PaM-
kda are viviparous agssqu: srogw:). Indeed Valdkda are some of them oviparous and
some viviparous mam srogw VPWmtm). Among snakes, the Ahipatdkda , a species of
non-venomous colubrines snakes, are viviparous (ovo-viviparous ?). Among the moisture-
born, there are some kinds of ants which also lay eggs or burst forth (from
the ground or perhaps from some previous unmanifest shape) Sfffvwi Mlftw
wwm efjww)
The oviparous animals are divided by Susruta into birds, snakes, aariaripaa , etc.
Dalvana notes that the Sariaripas include fishes, and Makaraa (sea* fish with fierce teeth—
and the 4 et cetera’ comprehends tortoises and crocodiles (fiCKwi: titarfa:
or ayffraifr gpfasnqtai ! The 4 moisture-born ’ ard’ due to the moisture
and heat either of the earth, or of organisms gs: mm:). Of
these, the Krimia (worms) arise from the moisture of the fseces in the bowels (Vffl:
Dalvana), from putrefying dead bodies (** Susruta;—cf. ^
Sjpmwi etf ^SW^-Guriaratna, Tarha-rdhaeya-dipikd , (Juinamatam); from decom¬
posing curd or milk (e.g., •wig ^
—Jayanta, Nydyamanjari , Ahniku 7,
The second class, Kitaa, noticed among the moisture-born, include the scorpions,
the six-spotted venomous insect pidvindu , See., ugiw: Dalvana). Of these
the scorpions arise from cow-dung, excreta of snakes, rotten wood («*' iftssi: wwH
—P&tanjali, Mahfibhfigya 1-4-8) cf. also Susruta, Kalpaathdna, Chapter 7.
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^he 'third class jPipilikis, ants 'and t the like insects, Dalvana notes, are born of
moisture and heat, as well as *of eggs, and sometimes burst forth from the ground
(3*5$^ ^ aljpiw—Dalvana). The gnats and mosquitoes (qsvmqe:) are also usually
placed among the moisture*born. An aiida (egg) is described as oval, of the form of a pcs/
(muscle ?)~(w r w Dalvana. Cf. Sridhara, Kundali, W9 fiN ibf iw
Ohhdndogya and Sankara.
It may be noted that the Chhdndogya Upani#ada classifies animals on the basis of
their uija (ovum or seed), as threefold:—(1) Andaja, born of eggs; ^2) Jivaja , viviparous;
and (8) Udvijja. Sankara explains that the udvijja animals arise from vegetable organ*
isms rnh ) which is also Charaka’s view, as we have seen. But
unlike Oharaka, Sankara holds that the weda a animals must be included partly under
the oviparous, and partly under the udvijja (vegetable-born) class
**Hn*W^wfu:)--Chh&ndogya, Prapathaka 6, Part 8).
Evidently the idea is that, though vegetable organisms may pass off into animal,
there cannot be generation without vija (seed or ovum), and inorganic matter without
vija (seed or ovum) cannot give rise to animal life. Patanjali, in the MahdbMtya (circa
150 B.O.) mentions the opposed view, which holds that not only animal organisms but
also vegetable organisms, e.g., grasses, grow from inorganic matter. The Durvfi grass,
for example, can grow from deposits ,of the hair of goats and cows, just as scorpions
are seen to develop out of cow-dung. Patanjali notes the orthodox Sankhya-Vedanta
explanation that these are not cases of growth (or transformation) but merely of coming
out (wmrfm) «i* ifcft mvb jut fRr u rcwptfwr w —Mah&-
bh&eya. 1-4-8.
The Dietary Animalt in Oharuka and Susruta.
In noticing different kinds of meat for dietary purposes, Oharaka gives a classifica¬
tion of animals (mammals and birds) which has ouly a practical (therapeutic) significance.
The dietic value of the flesh of any animal was conceived to depend mainly on its
habitat and mode of life. Dietary animals (mammals and birds) were accordingly divided
into eight classes (wgfaMT
. (1) Prusaha , carnivorous as well as non-carnivorous (Chakrap&ni), comprehending
land-quadrupeds and birds that fall on their food with force,
(2) Anupa , animals that live in marshy or water-logged lands or graze on river banks,
(8) Bhusaya or Vilesaya, animals that live in underground holes,
(4) Vdrisaya , aquatic animals, both fresh-water and oceanic,
(5) Jala char a , amphibious animals,
(8) Jdngala f animals that live in dry and elevated (hilly) jungle lands, mostly species
of deer,
(7) Viykira, birds that scatter their food in picking up, and
(8) Pratuda, birds that pierce or torment their food (worms and fruits) with the
beak.
In the chapter on articles of diet, Susruta gives a practical classification of (verte¬
brate) animals for dietary purposes. Animals that find a place in this dietary are first
divided into two classes (I) Anupa, animals that live in marshy or water-logged land
(or in water); (II) Jdngala t animals that live in dry (hilly) jungle land. The J&ngalas are
divided into five classes, and the Anupas into eight. The thirteen classes are based on
real and natural distinctions of food and habitat; they are for dietary purposes arranged
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under six conventional (or artificial classes) (wlm fn mm*£* i I
wifwi Piwi ffn —Dalvana, Sutrasthfina Chapter 27). These thirteen
classes of dietary animals may be enumerated as follows
I. Jftngala animals—Jat?ghd/«, Vifkira, Pratuda , Guhdaaya, Prasaha, Par?amriga t
Vileaaya and Grdmya, and
II. Anupa animals— Kulechara, Plow, Korns tha. Pddina Ind Matsya.
Of these, the matsyaa (fishes) are divided into two groups, freshwater (lit. river-water)
and sea-water fishes. Among the sea-fishes, the Timi and the Timingala (cod-fish or
whales ? Dalvana) find a place, as also the makara ,
(shark——Dalvana).
The kosastha (living in ^hells-mollusca) are distinguished from the matsyaa (fishes).
In this class are enumerated sankhas (conchifora), aankhana (smaller conchifera), sukti
(pearl mussels), sanibuka (Helix) with spinal shell (wwiWlis: —Dalvana,) mlluka (a species of
Helix, according to some ** 5 * Dalvana), etc. Dalvana adds vodika, jalasukti,
and various species of Helix ( frlwnqRwyfty sjfmw
Th e pddinas, aquatic animals having pedal for long dorsal) appendages, comprise
the kurmas (oval or oblong-shaped tortoises, turtles), the kumbhiraa (crocodiles, emydo-
sauria, reptilia), the karkataa (white and black crabs, Crustacea), the sisumava (a species
of the Delphinidse cetacea) muscular, with a sharp protruding snout, breathing with the
blow-hole out of the water, probably a dolphin, as the long dorsal fin was taken for a sort
of pedal appendage gvrfu %isfi fjffa: in * —Dalvana). The
pddinaa do not represent any natural division.
Of the other Anupa animals (aquatic or amphibious animals), the plavaa (lit., floating
on the water) represent a class of birds (the Natatores and the Grallatores) exemplified
by geese, ducks, cranes, &c.
The Kulecharaa are herbivorous quadrupeds that frequent the banks of rivers and
ponds, and comprise the elephant, the rhinoceros, the Qdvaya (Boa gavosua ), the buffalo,
various species of deer, &c.
Of the land-animals ( Jdngala ), three of the sub-divisions represent birds, and
five, mammals. The Land-Birds are (1) the Prasaha birds, birds of prey proper
(Raptores), comprising the vultures, kites, hawks, owls, &c. (Charaka’s Prasaha is
a much wider class) (2) the Viahkiras, birds that scatter their food in picking up,
and (8) the Pratudaa , birds that pierce or torment their food (fruits or worms) with
the beak. The last two classes comprehend between them the Paaaerea (proper and
so-called), the Sea mores, the Rasores and the coluthbce.
The remaining five classes of J&ngala animals are mammals, with the exception of
several species of Vilesayaa , which are reptiles. The Parnamrigaa (arboreal animals) com¬
prise the apes, sloths, squirrels, as also some of the reptiles and carnivora. Among the
Parxamrigaa , the Putighasa is a kind of tree-cat giving out a pungent odour; the madgu-
mutfka and the Brik$a8&yika, are arboreal rodents; and the AvOkusha, is a species of
cow-tailed monkey (vide Dalvana). The Jangh&laa are wild animals, herbivorous quadru¬
peds that are strong-legged and quick-footed, comprising various species of deer and
antelopes.
The Gr&myaa (lit., living in or about villages. domesticated quadrupeds) comprise the
horse, the mule, the ass, the camel, the goat, the sheep, &c. They are non-carnivorous,
being distinguished from the carnivorous quadrupeds Susruta, qfefq Oharaka). Some
are Bkaaapha (animals whose hoofs are not cloven) ^ ^ nro;_ w, mj; _
Dalvana). ^ *
41
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( 322 )
The ChthAsayas ere carnivorous quadrupeds (jvmrqr:) living in natural caves or hollows.
They comprise the lion, the tiger, the wolf, the hyena, the bear, the panther, the
cat, the jackal, the mrigevaru t &o. The vrika (wolf) is defined as a dog-like animal,
small-sized (in comparison with the lion and the tiger). By the oat, here, wild cats are
meant. The mrigevaru is described as a jackal-like animal that kills deer.
Finally come the Vilesoyas, animals that live in holes or burrow, comprising various
species of Rodents and Inseotivora, and several species of Reptiles.
Snakes in N&g&rjuna.
The Snakes (ophidae) are especially noticed by Susruta. (NAgftrjuna in the chapters rela¬
ting to Toxicology. Kalpasthdna , Chapter 4). Five different genera or families are noticed,
of which one is non-venomous, and four venomous, including one hybrid and three pure
or unmixed families. Of the last, (1) the Darinkarat (g fuQ —
Tripudians, Naia Buugarus, Oolubridfe) are hooded, swift in their movements, diurnal in
their habits, and bear on their hoods or their bodies the marks of chariot wheels, ploughs,
umbrellas, rhombs or cross-bands, goads, &c. (2) The mundali (Vipera and Trimeresums,
Viperidee ?) are thick (qua:), slow-moving, nocturnal in their habits, and bear circles or rings
on the body (wiqpfo’w). Charaka adds that they are without hoods, (3) Bagimats also are
without hoods and nocturnal, and bear series of dots or marks, and are often of variegated
colours on the upper parts and sides (Colubridm, Bungarus Callophis, Dryophis, &e* ?).
Twenty-six varieties are named of the first, two of the second, and ten of the third.
Of the Nirvifas, non-venomous snakes, twelve varieties are mentioned, including
Boidse snm and the oolumbrine Dendrophis, (rfm.) Of the Yaikainnya (hybrid) snakes,
there are ten varieties, of which three are produced by the union of certain venomous
species, and seven are secondary derivative forms.
The Danikaras are most deadly when young, the Mandali • when middle-aged, the
Rugimats, when aged. Their poisons act differently, and an elaborate description
is given of the action of the venom of each of the three venomous families.
Snakes in the Pur Anas.
The Bhavitya Purdna gives the following additional information. The Ndgus (Naim,
Oolubridm, Snakes) copulate in the month of Jyaistha or As£dha (May or June), gestate
during the rainy months that follow, and bring forth about two hundred and forty eggs
in the month of Kdrtika (November). Most of these are devoured by the parents, but
those that are left break forth from the shell in about two months (or one month, accord¬
ing to the Agnipurdna).
Eggs of a golden hue like that of the (red) flowers of the Oalotropis gigantm
( yuWMP bl) produce male young ones, those somewhat paler and of an elongated
ovoid shape ( ndfrwy w fo m bring forth female snakes, and those of the
hue of the Sirica blossom hermaphrodite ones. By the seventh day the young snakes
turn dark; in a fortnight (or twenty days, according to another account) the teeth
come out. The poison is formed in the fangs (q"grg) 1° three weeks, and becomes deadly
in the twenty-fifth night In six months, Ndgas shed the skin («sji).
In moving on the ground, the folds of the skin on the under-surface alternately
expand and contract, appearing to put out and draw in fine filament-like legs, about 240 io
number. The joints on the skin (scabs or scutes—qww:) are two hundred and forty in
number (perhaps the sub-oaudals were not counted).
Snakes are killed by men, mungooses, peacocks, Ohakoras (a kind of partridge),
scorpions, boars, oats, and the hoofs of oxen. Escaping death from these enemies, a
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( 323 )
Ndga may live for a hundred and twenty years. The term of life of the non-yenomons
snake is shorter, about seventy-five years. (Phavifya Ptirdna
The Agnipurdna gives the total number of teeth (of a Niga) as thirty-two ; of which
four (two on either side) are venomous; vis., Kdlardtri and Yamadutikd , which appear^
to be the names of the fangs, and Kardli and Makari which seem to stand for two hard
(maxillary) teeth accompanying the two fangs (of. also Charaka—Dridhavala, Chikitsd-
athdna , XXIII, Mw
UmdsvatVs Clataiflcution of Animal*.
A more thorough classification of animals is found in the ancient Jaina wprk, the
Tattiodrth&dhigama of Umlsvati, which the Jaina chronological lists enable us to assign
with great probability to the fourth or fifth decennium after Christ (circa 40 A.D).
Umisvati's classification is a good instance of classification by series, the number of sen¬
ses possessed by the animal being taken to determine its place in the series. Perhaps
only senses actively determining the life-habits were counted.
I. First pome animals with two senses, vi*. t touch (as evidenced by contractility
of tissue) and taste (as involved in the selection and rejection of food). This division
comprises—
(a) Apddika (Vermes without lateral appendages, Scolecids).
(b) Nupuraka (Ring-like, with pendants, vermes with unsegmented lateral append¬
ages, Annelids).
(c) Oandupdda (Knotty-legged, Arthropods, including Crustacea, Myriapoda, Ac).
(d) Some forms of Mollusca, e.g., Sankha (Conchifera, Lamellia branchiate', Suktika
(Pearl-mussel, Lamellia branchiate), and Sanibuka (Helix).
(e) Jalukd , Leeches (Annelids).
II. Next come the animals with three senses, namely, smell in addition to the
primordial senses of touch and taste involved in the contraction of tissues and the appro¬
priation of food. Here also well-developed and active senses alone were perhaps intend¬
ed. Rudimentary or dormant senses were not reckoned. This division comprises—
(a) Pipilihd (Ants, Formic idee, Hymenoptera).
(b) Rohinikd, red ants (Formicidee, Hymenoptera).
(c) UpachikA , Kunthu, Tuburaka , bogs and fleas (Hemiptera, Hemimetabola).
(d) Trapumvija and Karptiaaathika, cucumber and cotton weasels and lice (Aptera,
Ametabola).
e) Satapadi and Utpataku , Bpring-tails (Aptera, Ametabola).
(/) Trinapatra , Plant lice.
(g) K&ttha-hdraka, Termites, white ants (Neuroptera, Hemi-metabola).
III. —Then come the animals with four well-developed and active senses, ie n sight,
smell, taste and touch.
This division comprises—
(a) Bhramara , Varata , and Saranga—Beea, Wasps and Hornets (Hymenoptera, Holo-
metabola).
(b) Mak$ikA, Puttika, Dausa and Masaka—Flies, Gnats, Gadflies and Mosquitoes
(Diptera, Holometabola).
(c) Vrischika and Nandyavarta—Scorpions and Spiders (Arachnids, Arthropods).
(d) Klta—Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera, Holometabola), and
(e) Patanga—Grasshoppers and Locusts (Orthoptera, Hemimetabola.)
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IV.—Finally come the animals (man and the Tiryyak-yonis) with five well-developed
and active senses. Omitting man, this division comprises—
(a) Matsya, fishes,
(b) Uraga,
(c) Bhujanga,
(d) Pak$i, birds, and
(e) Chatufpada, quadrupeds.
Uraga and Bhujanga in popular use mean reptiles ; but here evidently Bhujanga is
taken to mean oviparous limbed animals (limbed reptiles and batrachians) and nob crea¬
tures whose movements are crooked or in the form of a bent bow; and Uraga stands for
apodal reptiles including snakes (ophidse).
It will be seen that the first three divisions fall under the Invertebrate, and the
fourth is identical with the Vertebrate.
This last division (the Vertebrate) is sub-divided on a different basis, v»* n the mode
of reproduction. The sub-divisions are three
A . —Artdaja, oviparous (Pisces, Reptilia and Batrachia), e.g., Sarpa (Snakes, Ophidia,
Reptilia), Qodha (Varanidee, Lizards, Reptilia), Krikaldaa (Chameleons, Reptilia), Oriha-
golika (Common Lizards—Lacertilia), Matsya (Pisces) Kurma (Tortoises—Chelonia,
Reptilia), Nakra (Crocodiles, Reptilia), Simmara (Dolphin or Porpoise, Cetacea) and Birds
proper with feather wings—the Lomapakw pak§is.
Porpoises are erroneously put here being really viviparous like other cetacea.
Frogs are not mentioned in this list. The omission is strauge. Perhaps (as in Susruta)
frogs were believed to be Udvijja (eruptive or metamorphic) and not Andaja (oviparous).
But Susruta mentions the frogs after the quadrupedal and centipedal Reptilia ( Kanava ,
Oodheraka , Oalagolika and Satapadi ).
B. —Jardyuja, mammals born with placenta, including all mammals other than the
Potaja. (Here Jarayuja is used in a restricted sense) :-(l) Man, (2) Cow, (8) Buffalo, (4)
Goat and Sheep, (5) Horse, (6) Ass, (7) Camel, (8) Deer, (9) Yak ( Ohamura ), (10) Hog, (11)
Bos Gavreus (G&veya)—Ungulata, (12) Lion, (18) Tiger, (14) Bear, (15) Panther, (10) Dog,
(17) Jackal, (18) Cat (Carnivora), etc.
The apes, though not expressly mentioned, are also to be included.
C . —Potaja, a class of placental mammals comprising the Deciduata with the
exception of Man, the Apes and the Carnivora: —e.g. Sallalta (Porcupine, Rodentia), Haati
(Elephant, Proboscides), Svavit and Lapaka (Hedgehogs and other creatures that lap up,
Inseotivora), Sasa and Sayika (Hare, Rabbits and Squirrel, Rodentia), Nakula (Ichneumon,
which though carnivorous is supposed to come under the Deciduata), Mufik (Mice,
Rodentia) and the Oharma paksa Pak§i a, so-called birds with leathern wings (Bats,
Chiroptera), e. g. t Valguli (Flying Fox), Pak^ivirdla (Flying Cat, Mioro-Chiroptera)
and Jalukd (apparently meaning blood-sucking Bats or Vampires, though these are
scarcely found in the old world).
The Potaja class thus comprises the following DeciduataProboscides, Rodentia,
Inseotivora and Chiroptera.
The term Potaja is intended to signify that these animals are born without the
placenta which is thrown off as an after-birth, whereas such of the Jar&yujaa as are not
Potajaa are born with the placenta attached to the embryo. But it is not easy to explain
why man, the Apes and the Carnivora should not also be reckoned among the Potajaa .
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sng^fcif wwfAP^ «wa: i firftftw
?#fil WMWWHWlft | 9Rf-^^I^F'Hf^%I^IVl%l-
ypr-TO^-^ Bw*- «Fm 3*T^te-WRfW ^snft i il^mf ^ Wij-
iMMrRT ^ *11I (Umasvati,
TattvartMdhigana, Chap. 11, Sutra 24).
migsifirf ^ 15 -^T -^W?-*RTfEH*■jflft'W-
Jisnrar-iiraKRffcin* | vwwf i
^ <remf sr^wagfti-
misFH I (Umflsvati, ibid, Chap. II, Sutra 34).
Section 2.
RE-CAPITULATION.
The ancient Hlndn classification of animals, as gathered from the authorities men¬
tioned above, may be briefly summarised thus :—
A.— Ktudrajantus, boneless and without (red) blood. Invertebrata, divided into
(a> Ayonija , a-sexually generated, e.g., the Svedaja, born of moisture and heat, and
the UduiJJa (vegetable-born, ejg., the coccinella) and
(b) Yonija , sexually generated, e.g., the Andaja, oviparous.
But some are both a-sexually and sexually generated, being both Svedaja* and
Andajas, or UdviJJas and Andajas.
The Kfudrajantus (Invertebrata) comprise—
(I) the Krimis vermes : (a) Apddikus without lateral appendages (cf. Scolecids),
(b) Nupurakas, Annelids (a section), (c) Oandupada *, Arthropods (a section).
(II) the Jaluh&s, Leeches, of which twelve species are described, six venomous, and
six innocuous (cf. Susruta’s careful description, Sutrasthdna, Chap. 18),
(111) Koaasthns, shelled animals, some forms of mollusca, e.g., the Sankhas (Conehi-
fera), the Suktikas (Pearl-mussels), the Sambuka* (spiral-shelled, Helix), the
Vodikas, etc.,
(IV) then the Insects typified by the Ants comprising
(a) Pipilikd, Rohinika (Ants, Hymenoptera).
(b) Upachikd, Kunthu, Tuburaka (bugs and flies, Hemiptera).
(c) Cucumber and cotton lice (Aptera).
(d) Satapadi, Utpataka (Spring-tails, Aptera).
(c) Trinapatra, grass or plant lice (Aptera).
(/) Termites (Neuroptera).
(V) Insects typified by the Hexopoda comprising—
(a) Bhramam , Varata, S&ranga , Bees, wasps and hornets,
(b) Makftkd, Puttikd , Dansa, Masaka , Plies, gnats, gadflies, and mosquitoes,
(c) Vrischika and Nandydvarta, Scorpions and spiders (Arachnida, Arthropods),
(d) Kita, Butterflies and moths, and
(c) Patanga, Grasshoppers and locusts.
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Susruta-Nigirjuna names six varieties of ants, six varieties of flies, five of mosqu
toes, (including one marine and one mountain kind), eight varieties of tiutapadia (cen¬
tipedes), thirty varieties of scorpions and sixteen of spiders (LutAs). Of the Kitua, the
glow-worm and the Tailakita (lit., oil-worm) are said to be luminous (phosphorescent,
(cf. Rajanighuntu
B.— The Tiryyakyotti animals, sexually generated animals othor than such of the
ovipara as are included under the Kfudrajantu , in other words, sexually generated
animals possessing bones and blood—corresponding to the vertebrata—comprise the
following classes
1. Andaja , oviparous: -
(u) The Afatsyas, fishes, divided into river-water fishes and sea-fishes.
Susruta names eleven species of the latter. The 4 Timi ’ (cod-fish, whale) is
reckoned as a sea-fish. The Maharu (shark) is also mentioned, but the
Kurinas , Kumhhtrm and Siaumdi-aa (tortoises, crocodiles, and dolphins) are
excluded from the class, as also the so-called shell-fish, being plaoed
among the Pddinaa and the Koaasthaa respectively.
(b) The Uragaa , apodal reptilesincluding the Sarpas (snakes, ophidia). Five
classes of snakes are mentioned, one non-venomous, three venomous, and
one hybrid. Eighty varieties of snakes are named, bat the classification
is based on superficial characters, e.g., markings on the scales, etc., and do
not touch any anatomical peculiarities. The pathological observations
regarding the distinct action of the poisons of different orders seem to be
good.
(c) Bhujangas , oviparous animals with lateral, pedal appendages, both Reptiles
and Batrachians. Many of these are quadrupedal and five-clawed,
vgwnqn dter: usmur: (Dalvana.)
I llu stmt ion a.
1. Oodha, Orihagolika and Krikalaaa (Varantas lizards, common lizards
and chameleons). Susruta names four varieties of the Xattava, a
species of chameleon-like lizards—(cf. Ladyayana quoted by Dal¬
vana, Kalpaathdna , Chapter 8), also six varieties of Qalagolika (a
species of lizards), and five varieties of Qodhemka , Varanus-iike
lizards, but smaller in size.
2. Knrmaa and Nakraa , tortoises and Crocodiles (Chelonia and Emydosauria,
Reptilia). Some species of the former are oval, others elongated
8. Siaum&raa, the Delphinidee (Odontocete cetacea).
Susruta mentions the frogs ( Udvijja , eruptive or metamorphic ?) after the
quadrupedal and centipedal Reptilia ( Kavava , Qodheraku , Qalagolika
and Satapadi ). Eight species of frogs are named. The frogs are
explained by the mythologist to have arisen from dirty water
in the rainy season,.im: (i.e. emu-
cf. Dalvana, Kalpaathdna , Chapter 8.
Susruta's P&dinaa (aquatic animals having pedal or long dorsal appeud-
ages) are a conventional class formed for practical dietary purposes,
and include (2) and (8) and also the Karkatas, crabs, (Crustacea).
UmdavatVa Bhujanga class, being a natural sub-division of ver
tebrates, does not include Crustacea which are rightly placed
among the invertebrates.
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(d) Lomapakja pakfi, winged animals with feathery wings. Birds proper.
These are oviparous, while the winged animals with leather wings
('pfontar:) are placental la of the Deciduata class (taur:)
The Birds proper are divided into four classes: —
(1) Plavas , aquatic or amphibious birds* comprising the Natatores and the Gralla-
tores. Various species are described.
(2) Vi$kirat, those that scatter their food in picking up.
(8) Pratudaa , those that pierce or tbrment their food (fruits or grains).
The enumeration of the species under (2) and (8) shows that these two classes
included the Passeres (verm and so-called), the Scansores, the Rasores and
the Columbm.
( 4 ) Praaahas, birds of prey proper (Raptores).
Dalvana’s descriptions of deer and birds are precise, turning upon coloration, habits
of life etc., e.g., the descriptions of the Ruru, the KArandava, and the Kanka, expressly
quoted from some (unnamed) Hand-books
•Of' hfir—w wi* i
jRr i
iiroft nw i’’ jft i
The sources from which Dalvana derives detailed information about these varied
forms of animal life are now unavailable, but these extracts abundantly testify to the
minute nature study of the Hindus.
The Hindus had of course no idea of an anatomical classification of birds.
The ancient writer, LAdyAyana, had a much better idea of zoological description in
reference to the Kitaa (insects and reptiles, vide infra).
IT.— Jardyujas, (viviparous, lit., placentalia) in the usual wider sense ; comprising-
(a) Charmapakfa pdkffia — leather-winged animals, which are decidnata ( Potaja)
Oharaka calls them Mrigapakfina (mammal birds) and distinguishes them
from the birds-of-prey proper, in his enumeration of the Praaahas (Sutra-
sthdna , Chaptor 27). The Bats mentioned are
(1) Valguli , (flying fox),
(2) The PaM Virdla , (flying cat, micro-chi roptera 1 ,
(8) The Bharanda t (a species of micro-chi roptera, the horse-shoe bat?)
(4) The Jalukdy (lit., aquatic or amphibious or more probably leech, bat,
blood-sucking or vampire bat ?). These are place.I among carnivorous
animals.
(b) The yilesaya Jardyujas , mammals that live in holes or burrows, including
various species of Rodents and Insectivora, which are named. Eighteen
different varieties of mice are specified (Susruta, Kalpuathdva, Chapter 6).
(c) Parnamrigaa, arboreal mammals, comprising some Rodents (squirrels
etc.), a wild cat, the sloths and the apes (up*).
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(d) Non-carnivorous Quadrupeds ( wm mq: ):—
(1 Janghdlas, lit., strong-lagged quadrupeds, frequenting hilly and jungly
tracts, comprising various species of deer (non-carnivorous wild animals',
(2) Kulechara mammals, grazing on the banks of rivers, and frequenting marshy
places, comprising the elephant, the rhinoceros, the gaveya (Bos gavsens)
the buffalo, the hog and also several species of deer (which live in well
watered lands). These are also non-carnivorous (snpmq)
(8) Ordmyas , (lit., living in or near villages), non-carnivorous domesticated
quadrupeds, some with undivided hoof, others with cloven hoof,—comprising
the horse, the mule, the ass, the camel, the cow, the goat, the sheep, etc.
These are all non-carnivorous. The dog and the cat are not mentioned
in the list.
(?) Carnivorous quadrupeds, Quhdsaya (living in natural caves or hollows, carnivorous
Kravyada ),—comprising the lion, the tiger, the wolf (of the dog-class), the
hyena, the bear, the panther, the cat, the jackal, etc. The carnivora were,
termed Vydlaa or Kravyddas , and the herbi-vora Paaus (in a wider sense).
(/) Man.
The term Jardyuja, in a wider sense came to mean * viviparous* and included the
above orders of animals. But the Jainas used the term Jardyuja in a narrower senae to
mean only those viviparous animals which come out at birth with the placenta (a-deci-
duata). The deciduata (including the Proboscides, the Rodentia, the Insectivora, the
Chiroptera, etc.) were termed, Potaja , lit., viviparous animals born without placenta. Man,
the apes and the carnivora are, however, reckoned with the Jardyuja (viviparous, born
with placenta). Perhaps the after-birth was observed in these cases, whereas the
Potajas (deciduata) may have been erroneously conceived to throw off no placenta.
Lftdyfiyana appears to have made a special study of the classification of kitaa
(Insects and Reptiles) and is quoted by Dalvana as a great authority on the subject.
The various forms (*q) of kitas are to be distinguished from one another by
peculiarities in the following marks
(1) Dottings or markings, (2) wings, (8) pedal appendages, (4) mouth, with
antennsel or nippers,— joqvqq, Dalvana, (5) claws, (6) sharp, pointed, hairs or filaments
(7) stings in the tails, (8) hyraenopterous character (uf|p£; traftpifn;) (9) humming or other
noise, (10) size, (11) structure of the body, (12) sexual organs (this is how I interpret
Jingahere), and (18) poison and its action on bodies.
cf - «nt: g4: S|4:
VWNtad: q qjwfc I
surah
qSteraf OTTi* fanari n
Quoted from UdyAyana by Dalvana, Kalpasthtfna, chapter 8;.
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APPENDIX C.
HINDU PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOLOGY.
Section 1.
METABOLISM. 1
The food that we eat contains five classes of organic compounds. From their
radicles or predominant elements, the substances are named Earth-compounds, Ap-
eompounds, Teja s-compounds, V&yu-com pounds and Akfisa-compounds. The Earth-com¬
pounds supply the hard formed matter of the body, the Tejas-compounds give the animal
heat (or the metabolic heat), the Vfiyu-compounds are the sources of the motor-force in the
organism, the Ap-compounds furnish the watery parts of the organic fluids, and the Akfisa-
compounds cbntribute to the finer etheric essence which is the vehicle of the conscious life.
Roughly speaking, the Earth-compounds answer to the nitrogen compounds in the
food, the Tejas-compounds to the hydro-carbons (heat-producing), and the Vayu-compounds
to the carbo-hydrates (dynamic). The Ap-compounds are the watery parts of food and
drink. The flesh, for example, is a tissue composed principally of the Earth-compounds,
the fat of the Earth and Ap-compounds, the bones of earth, Vfiyu and Tejas compounds.
Different operations of the metabolic heat (perhaps different digestive fluids are also
meant) are required to digest the different substances in the food.
The course of metabolism is described as follows: The entire alimentary canal is
called the Mahfisrotas (the great channel).
The food goes down the gullet by the action of the bio-motor force, the Praya-
Vdyu.
In the stomach ( otww ) the food becomes mixed up, first with a gelatinous mucus
( SOhn m ) which has a saccharine taste, and then gets acidulated by the further chemi¬
cal action of a digestive juice «ri: —evidently the gastric juice is meant). Then
the bio-motor force, the Samdna Vayu , begins to act and drives down the chyme,
by means of the Oruhani Nadi to the Pitt&saya (duodenum, lit. bile-receptacle)
and thence to the small intestines (the mmawnw ). In these, the bile (or rather the
digestive substance in the bile, as opposed to the colouring element) acts on the chyme
and converts the latter into chyle ( ** ) t which has at first a katu taste (pungency).
This chyle contains in a decomposed and metamorphosed condition all the or¬
ganic compounds, viz., tissue-producing Earth-compounds, water-parts or Ap-compounds,
heat-producing Tejas-compounds, force-producing V&yu-compounds, and, lastly, finer
etheric constituents which serve as the vehicle of consciousness. The essence of chyle
( ) from the small intestines is driven by the bio-motor force, the Premia Vdyu,
along a Dhamani trunk (cf. the thoracic duct) first to the heart (which is a great receptacle
of chyle), and thence to the liver (and the spleen); and in the liver, the colouring
substance in the bile acts on the essence of chyle, especially on the Tejas-substanee
therein, and imparts to it a red pigment, transforming it into blood. But the grosser
part of chyle ( ^ ) proceeds along the Dhamanis, being driven by the
bio-motor force, the Vyana Vfiyu, all over the body.
When the blood has been formed, the essence of chyle in the blood, acted on by
Vfiyu (bio-motor force) and Mfimsagni (the flesh-ferming metabolic heat), forms the flesh-
tissue, the Earth-compound of the food substance especially contributing to this tissue.
Of the flesh-tissue thus formed, the grosser part goes to feed or replenish the flesh-tissue
1 Extract from my monograph in Dr. Ray’s Hindu Chemistry Yol. II,
42
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all over the body. The finer essence of fiesh in the blood in the chyle, acted on again by
VAyu (bio-motor current) and the fat-forming metabolic heat ( Sfysfp) in the menstruum of
lymph ( w* ), receives viscosity and whiteness, and produces the fatty tissue, the
Earth-compounds and Ap-compounds of the food specially contributing to the product.
This fat in the chyle (or blood), or rather the grosser part of it, replenishes the fatty
tissue of the body, but the finer essence of fat in the flesh in the blood in the chyie, acted
on by Vdyu (bio-motor current) and the marrow-forming metabolic heat, in the menstruum
of lymph ( xfowifl )»becomes bard (crystalline), and forms bone, the Earth, Yfiyu and Tejas
compounds contributing principally to the product. The essence of the fat fills the
hollow channels of the bones, and acted on again by bio-motor Vdyu and metabolic heat,
becomes transformed iuto marrow. The marrow is similarly transformed into the semen,
which is conveyed down by means of a pair of Dhamqnis or ducts ( } ), lodged in its
receptacles ( yrro—) and discharged by means of another pair of ducts £ ffiewu ).
The semen or rather all the elements in their finer essence, give off ojas which returns to
the heart, the receptacle of chyle and blood, and again floods the body, and sustains the
tissues, thus completing the wheel or self-returning circle of metabolism ( q filing qwu
cf. Charaka and Vftgbhata). t
It is to be noted that, throughout, the fluid in the chyle or blood acts as the mens¬
truum, though occasionally, the lymph, which is itself a derivative from the chyle, is
added, as in the case of the fatty tissue and the bones ; and that each preceding element
or constituent oft the body ( qm— wfaremi qrj) takes up the proper organic compounds
from the food chyle to form the next element or tissue. Throughout also, the chemical
changes are due to the metabolic heat which breaks up the compounds and recombines,
but the operations and even tho vehicles perhaps of this heat are different. For ex¬
ample, these heat-corpuscles in the biliary ducts produce the bile, but the bile-secretion is
supposed to contain two distinct substances: (1) a digestive fluid in the duodenum
( finm ) Which acts on the chyme to produce the chyle ( wire* qww* firi ); and (t) a
colouring bile-substance in the liver which adds a red pigment to the chyle, and trans¬
forms it into blood ( qwmu ' fin )• Besides, there are three other biles, of which the
aqueous humour in the eye is supposed to be one ( fin ), helping in the formation of
visual images (*quif% )• This is the view of Dhanvantari and his school, but Atreya
holds there is no evidence that the bile really performs the first (digestive) function,
for this can be accounted for by tho animal heat arising from the working of the whole
bodily machine.
There are three different hypotheses regarding the course of metabolism and the
successive transformations of the chyle (fiiuv
xhqqjnq:—?Chakrap&ni, Bh&numati, Sutrasth&na, XIY, 10; also his commentary on Charaka,
Sutrasth&na, XXVIII), but my account is based on the second hypothesis which has the pre¬
ference of Chakrapftni (qqqg:). It may be added as a curiosity that each element of the body
( ) under the metabolic heat is supposed to give off a finer essence ( gpntnv) which
serves as the material of tho next succeeding element, and a dross ( q* ) which forms
some of the excreta in the body (including the nails, the hair Ac.), besides retaining its
own substance (the gross or main part) which is driven along by the Vftyus (biomotor or
vital currents), or by the s rotas, to its destination in the body.
8ome idea of circulation appears to have been entertained, for the heart which
receives, and then sends down, the chyle through the Dhamanis gets it back transformed
into blood, and the ojas also prooeeds from the heart and returns to it along with the
chyle and the blood.
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(Cf. Vflgbhata at: ppm: ftlU: WIW<1> $HR wfiWfTO: ) I WW
I igST flWjn qm. WH^WiC^ • Susruta, SutraitMna, Chap. 46,
t- also, f^JTRJrarai»lt fflpTOhfo WTO: I wfrwta qapptf fcl fa t g fl qft I
bid ,chap 4i. flwwitagwm i w i *wi : i wm to^ qiftrV
TOrog l tor* $ * gwufor to® gsppg sw i mfofai: qiftrVrt iNr: ihriw
fomgi wfiiffcra spsito' *ii*itd g qiftfa: i grorf** sfawri^rot i Charaka
looted by Dalvana. *T1$T TOWWFTO* TO TO f^Tfl^lf TO I
«iNJHI *WMI^3d llt^MM I f^Nii 5TO ®IT TOT MR^Ritii I TOWTOTOHiTO
wnft arsfiNferi i 6 imRwm«to tot i gnsrom i fr ^rt *n fom*» to-
w 1 ?: I 4qMkt|4Ml tt|4IWWta fagswfil I...TOW <WJ <liwn6(i I
TOnfong^fore towm * * i. ^irowt TOsiwgawi qfwftt, faftrom wrtw
tot tow i mwfo&wn gnf to* nf»w i ^)«nP9 w ^rorfesj nfa graft-
*3flH, ferof uro Aw’ * i q ft wiwqftgn^«i f totoi: jfrropyrc ,
wro to^iww wh fmw[ i ^ifi» to *Wwrc«if wflro: i mfa
^$T TOW to: I TOTTOaiFW «T: SP6 §TO|3 TO: I Charaka-Dridhavala
Sarahitfi quoted by Aruna in his commentary on Vfigbhata.
toi^wPito* frenref gwirot Sg i farenTOft i tot to qqsww to* wnroftr i
TO TOWTO WTO 5 TOOKTO TOwfly 4 * l wgwife I TO* W TOTOfoT TOT*
fcrofiriwh to m^nm utam ^ q r rofr i, <t< i g^unre i qfr wsrsmfin (Chakradatta
Bh&numati). This passage shows that the ‘ venous blood 9 was conceived to be chyle-
essence mixed with blood, and that the circulation of the chyle, so far as it was held to
contribute^ quota to the constituent elements and tissues of the body, was really sup¬
posed to be identical with the circulation of the blood TOflTOTO HfaffilTOVlfil ).
This will bo abundantly clear from the following account of the course of the chyle and
the blood:
to: TOgjWnfRRW ^ WtrTOTP I g^lTO...TO: mTOigw-
rWi TOsftroW wlkwrow tow to* q gq ^ faTO *roi fri m ftftrchrofo i to:
toeto tosi^t 3* .firofa I...TO: «HWW sft TOh TOW I *gsr: <tc*w* I
«jrh TSTOwfa fctN **&$«: wflTOTOfcTO' forog WlTOigW ff ftfrwftffr :
sgtg TORPD^TOlf^ JWIlRl I TO: gjffhTOT: TOTOigHnif^lT ftwf»ra
af l WTO H wft i fliwPi «nfit I et seq.
This finer essence of chyle which nourishes the flesh is also carried in the
blood, on the irrigation channel hypothesis ( ).
Section 2.
THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM.
The standing puzzle of Hindu anatomy and physiology is the classification of the
Siras, Dhamanis , Srotas, the channels, passages, and ducts in the body including the
arteries, veins, nerves* lymphatic vessels, etc. The difficulty was felt by the ancient
observers thenjselves. Some were of opinion that the Dhamanis and tirotas are only modi¬
fications of the 8iras t and that the division is artificial. Susruta, however, contends that
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< 332 ;
they are distinct, because they can be traced to different roots and have different func¬
tions ; they are apt to be confounded, only because they are minute, juxtaposed, and similar
in function. (Susruta, Sdrirasthdna, Chapter IX). Charaka also accepts the established
division, bat points out that the numbers as estimated are conjectural V* I
Sdrirasth&iia, Chapter VII).
The Sims, Dhamanis and Srotas form net-works (*twR) of cords, fibres, passages,
which in the foetus take their rise from the umbilical cord, and proceed, upwards to the
heart and head, downwards to the kidneys and rectum, and outwards to the trunk and
limbs. These three classes comprise all the vehicles or conductors of the fluids, secretions
and currents in the bodily system.
The Srotas (currents). This is a peculiarity of Hindu physiology. The chyle, the
blood, the V4yu, the metabolic fluid (fin), the lymph, the fat, the marrow, in every part of
the body, is supposed to be connected by means of subtle currents (Srotas) with the
same kind of fluid (or tissue) in every other part. Without supposing such special
connections, many pathological phenomena cannot be explained.
The Siras are divided into four groups : (l) the arteries for conducting the blood,
(2) the lymphatics for conducting the lymph, (3) a class of bile ducts, and (4) a class of
ducts for the v'njus, the currents which work the automatic and reflex machinery of the
living organism. In each group, there are 10 trunk Siras, which sub-divide into 175
cords, and further ramify minutely all over the body, even as a net-work of minute
Abrils covers the leaf of a tree.
The functions of the different groups of Siras are to conduct or transmit the (arterial)
blood, the lymph, the bile, and the (vital) udiju currents respectively to the different
parts of the body. The Siras are compared to the conduits of tho flowing water in a
pleasure-house (a gardeu), or the channels of irrigation that flood a field. The conduction
(or transmission) of the fluids and currents is effected by an alternate dilation and
contraction of the vessels, the systolic movement differing according to the nature of the
fluid propelled :
(bb ftrcrcraifa sfifajunu ^ asrcrfaftfti: $51*5* g SWiRm-
ffcwrel wfqtri ^ i arer'r srarar: i awf
eras ■a i aiaf i araf aia ^ rfrfr ^
ftaaiftafr qW W Susruta, Sdrirastkdna, Chap. VII.)
The Dhamanis in the foetus take their rise from the umbilical cord, thus bringing
nourishment from the mother. They are divided iuto three groups: (a) ten trunks or
cords going up to the heart, and thence to the head, (6) ten going down to the intestines,
kidneys and rectum, and (c) four branching obliquely or sidewise, and ramifying over
the whole body. In a general way, it may be stated that the Dhamanis comprise (i) the
veius, (2) the nerves (including the sympathetic system), (3) the chyle-ducts (including the
thoracic duct) as distinguished from tho other lymphatics, which are classed as Siras,
(4) the ducts for urine, sweat, and other secretions, and (5) lastly, certain classes of bilo-
ducts and conductors of Vdyu curronts, possibly those connected with the venous system
and the chyle-ducts.
The first group of Dhamanis : -Special features : -Bach of the ten ascending
Dhamanis, on reaching tho heart, trifurcates, and proceeds to tho head. Of these fibres,
one pair is engaged in conducting each of the four sensory currents (those of sound,
colour, taste and smell), from the sense-organs, as Charaka and Susruta must have
supposed , to the heart , which is for them the seat of consciousness (93* fi^f Susruta,
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Sari rasth ana , Chapter IV, pji Chaiaka, HarirasthAna, Chapter VIII). Other
Dhamanis, also in pairs, are engaged in conducting automatic (or voluntary) motor
currents, (e.y., the currents concerned in respiration, yawning, sleeping and waking), or
the secretions of the lachrymal and mammary glands.
The second group of Dhamanis Special functions :
The descending Dhamanis go down to the intestines, kidneys, bladder and rectum,
and their special function is to convey, in pairs as before, urine and other secretions
and excreta. They also convey the chyle from the small intestines to the ascending as
well as the ramifying Dluimunis. In addition, some of them convey sweat to the ramifying
Dhamanis.
The third group : Special functions. The remaining four Dhamanis ramify obliquely
over the body into millions of fibres and fibrilla*, which terminate in the pores of the
skin. From all parts of the periphery, they conduct the sensory currents of touch to
the central organ of the heart (including the internal organic sensations). Being con¬
nected with the pores of the skin, they conduct sweat outwards, and the influences of
baths, embrocations, and fomentations inw&rds.
Other Dhamanis serving as chyle-ducts and (venous) blood-vessels .'—Besides the
special functions performed by the three groups, there is one characteristic function
common to certain classes of Dhamanis which are found in all the three groups—
viz., the conduction of chyle and (venous) blood, t.c., of blood in the state of chyle,
before it gets its red pigment from the liver. It may also be added that the three
principal elements of the body, VAyn (vital current), Pitta (bile, or rather the fluid animal
heat which produces metabolism, and flows to all the parts of the body by means of
connective passages), and Kaphu (lymph), make use of the Dhamanis as well as the Siras
and tirotas, i.e., of all manuer of conductors in the organism (cf. Charaka, uraRn 3 * 1 :
uafiv wnunfi VimAnasthdm , Chapter V).
The functions of the tiiras may, therefore, be stated as follows :—
(1) The conduction of blood from the liver and spleen, red blood (what may be called
the arterial blood of this system of physiology) to the heart, head, trunk, limbs, etc.
(2) Common functions of all connective passages, viz., the conduction of Vdyu (vital
current), Pitta (metabolic fluid), and Kapha (lymph).
The different classes of Dhamanis with their functions are :—
(1) The nerves : (a) eight sensory (central) nerves for the four special senses other
than touch, (b) twelve motor nerves partly for voluntary and partly for automatic move¬
ments, and (c) the nerves of touch and organic sensation, including the sympathetic nerves.
(2; The cliyle-ducts, conductors of (venous) blood,-conveying the chyle before it
is transformed into blood in the liver (and the spleen).
(3) The classes of Dhumanis, which, in common with the tiiras and tirotas, conduct
Vuyu, Pitta and Kapha,-the prime movers of the organic life.
fc'lRAS AND DHAMANis AS BLOOD-VESSELS.
The circulatory system.
The anatomical arrangement of the Hiras and Dhamanis as conceived in this system
of physiology is so fanciful and obscure (Charaka himself states that it is unascertainable
and questionable) that it is with considerable diffidence that 1 attempt to reproduce in
a chart the main features of the vascular and circulatory system. At the outset, I would
premise that the mistake as to the relative position of the heart and the liver in which
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 334 )
lasted till the middle of the sixteenth century in Europe and took a Vesalios to correct, was
impossible to the Hindu anatomists, who habitually practised dissection on human corpses.
Conjectural Restoration of the Diagram of the central circulation of the Siras and
Dhamanis after Charaka and Susruta. Tho obliquely branching Dbamanis, and the rami¬
fications of the Siras are not shown.
(a) Navel,-the foetal source of Siras and Dhamanis,—may be taken as the starting
point of the circulatory system.
(b) Heart i frsts fiWtarfd i Susruta, S&rira-
sth&na IV),—the receptacle of the chyle poured into it by the ascending Dhamanis
source of the • life currents ’ (msfrfs wtmf*), and seat of consciousness also supplies to
the spleen and liver (venous) blood, or rather chyle mixed with blood, to be transformed
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 335 )
into red (arterial) blood. The heart is also supplied by Siras with true blood. Cf.
i guffaw* (^Ttwwtwt)
(c) Small intestine which receives the chyme from the stomach (wtos), and,
with the help of the bile brought from the liver, turns the chyme into chyle.
(d) Spleen, a minor source of blood (or blood vascular gland); cn the left below the
heart.
(iwrtosnm: $'T—Susruta, Chapter IV).
(e) Liver, the major source of blood; the chyle gets a red pigment in the liver
(and spleen) and is converted into true (arterial) blood. The liver is to the right.
(ttfarifr Susruta, SArirasthAna, Chapter IV).
(/) Dhamani, conveying chyle from the small intestine to the great Dhamani trunk
(ff) that ascends to the heartanswers to the portal vein and thoracic duct (?)
( 0 ) Dhamani trunk, ascending from the navel to the heart; answers to the inferior
Vena Cava.
(h) Dhamani ascending from the heart to the head,—-and trifurcatinganswers to
the superior Vena Cava.
(i) Also, Dhamani ascending from the heart, but brings back the (venous) blood to
the heart (Pulm. Artery ?)
(j) Also, a Dhamani, descending from the heart, and conveying the chyle and venous
blood from the heart to the liver, where the blood takes a red pigment.
( k) Sira, connecting the liver with the spleen,-carrying the red blood from the
liver to the spleen (Sp. vein).
(l) Sira, from the spleen to the heart, carrying the red blood to the heart.
(m) Sira, bringing red (“ arterial ”) blood from the heart to the navel, the starting
point, answering to the aorta.
N.B.—The Siras ramify from the liver and the spleen, and supply the trunk, head
and limbs, with red (arterial; blood. Four Dhamani trunks also, for the trunk and limbs
issue from the navel. They ramify into veins and capillary vessels (as also nerve fibres
and fibrils) and carry chyle and (venous) blood over the entire system.
It is clear that Charaka and Susruta had no idea of the part played by the lungs
in the purification of the blood. The liver converts the ‘ venous ’ blood in this system
into true (‘ arterial ’) blood, and along with the spleen serves as a basis of discrimina¬
tion between a Sira and a Dhamani, thus illustrating Susruta's statement that the distinc¬
tion between these two kinds of blood vessels must be accepted as real, inasmuch as they
have different sources and different functions.
0 IOT 3 snfajowi’rt 3 * qsr
W-WwJ fej'HKIWf (Susruta,
£> : 4riraath&ua, Chapter IX). tW Wlf RW gWFE qfappg m:<m-
H# wrat 1 * svrogfifW: wfrggfa, snpfrr ^1
I a «WWI**llW Jirw (/Wd, Chapter IV). ffirar-
WNWWIWs WiliwnitfUwi I (Ibid, Sutrasthjna, Chapter XIV),
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 336 )
toR kitoi E i i stiffen mm to TOfifiqflfa^TO TOSTOifirorfan# *u-
5 *flspraiwnf^ifi?^! i •n'wrf *rof f^ntnc sfcroPflTOTOf: i urat ^rftn: wiitV^roBi
qiroift^it to Pfcrai%**ft to 5TOif|«il to TO ^ i arapg qiroit^ferf to
WWOni 'T^B^TO TO^t I WIlfVTO I TO TOqiftTO ftwi:
q^fifqifa: i «#r ^?RW|Rwif ■* wircq^T i fMi'w^j qh *3 s«S to^i otto: q^«i‘
TO *TO*r: ^KTO» ^Fjqf < 5 TO TO Wt?STH«*m I TO: ft*!: 3f?TO>' f wrfTOTO^
TOKlfq (fe'SrirasthSna, Chapter VIII). %ftqt (TOT) TOTO TO? I TOlt Vlftlri
ftRfeJTOfe#*N» Wife ( Ibid, Chapter IV). q^ (TOT) fqTOTOWT I ■qgtq TOOT liq g q gTO TO-
TOinirspif qww^iqlwrf otto^i i flrafq RmTOvflqfc&i i...aifo ( )
mtmW I wwthnl^^ q gf l qgiw^j i f^ i to mrot £ i fro wqiffcros
TOTO I TOTO$ s' I n<)l^5f dl^SJJW (Klomn, gall-bladder) ^ I TO fifet?! fqqrat I
«nra$ ?' • OThgV wwtto: sraqjft*TO*RTO: i *rot f 1 I tPfrnj'hr fTO ITOlfipTO WTO: I
wat 5 1 ri^hT TOU gMi TOOTfrora mm: 1 nferat y 1
TTOlffrTO WTO: I
Section 8.
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN CHARAKA.
The Nerves. Dhamanis as nerves :—The anatomy of the nervous system in Charaka
and Susruta, can be more clearly and confidently restored. The Dhamants that ascend
from the heart divide into 80 cords, of which 20, t.c., 10 pairs, are cranial nerves, and the
other 10, or 5 pairs, are engaged in conveying vital currents, metabolic fluid, lymph,
blood and chyle.
The cranial nerves are : (1) four pairs of sensory nerves carrying sensory impulses
from the sense-organs to the heart, viz., the optic, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory
nerves and (2) six pairs of motor (or mixed nerves), e.g., three pairs of motor nerves
for the eye (Motores oculorum, Pathetic and Abducentes) working the Levator Palpebrje
and other muscles of the orbit ; one pair of motor nerves for articulation, the hypoglossal;
one pair of motor nerves for the larynx, (the Pneumo-gastric), and another pair connected
with mammae and (in the case of the male) the seminal duct. It is further stated that other
motor or sensori-motor impulses are carried by some of these cranial nerves, viz., those
which produce sighs and sobs, yawning, laughter and hunger. Evidently some of the func¬
tions of the pneumogastric and the spinal accessory nerves are intended, as also of the
phrenic and other nerves of the cervical plexus.
Of the 80 descending Jlhamanis, 10 (or 6 pairs) are conductors of blood,
chyle, vital current, metabolic fluid and lymph, and the remaining 20 are spinal
nerves (specially the nerves of the sacro-coccygeal and sacral plexuses, if not also
of the lumbar plexus). The obliquely branching Dhamams, so far as they are nerves,
comprise the brachial and the lumbar plexus, and divide and sub-divide hundred-fold,
thousand-fold, till they ramify into fibrillse round the pores of the skin. They carry
to the heart cutaneous sensations, external as well as internal. A fibril (spruit) is said to be
as minute as the thousandth part of a hair mx&Qi—Panclmdasi).
nffe wrofci i to$ sronfrofaTOiftrar top# wfa'TO • wspg dWwfeiTO[ i
s' af otrtot to • wwwh, ^ 1i fiwrf $iq i ajirot
Digitized by L^ooQle
*
nr
m
fa
t#
W
«)
j;l
$1
taf
pi
0
*y
|
ed
ef
*
jtr
i
$
>
»
( 337 )
I gT*qf I % *3 TOHIlftflft I 5 I d ^ 5*K* *T?^f srcrwrf
wftlTOi: I
ftviHHIMi^J ^TCLt&t ^4%i STcW SfWTT ^wiRTC* ftRflWWi I
aifaM wftf *wifW ciraf g^rft fru^r srflftRrift i $: ^iifaigPa 4*wifir
&i «wrfft« i ft* i
wftr ft^ift s*rcfgwrgfa *r i ^dnwrerta n*n sRrfjFrcn.* ^fft^nn
nnSSRR: I (Susruta S&rirasthfina, Chapter IX.)
section 4.
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AFTER THE TANTRAS-PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY.
In Charaka and Susruta (as in Aristotle) the heart is the central organ and seat of
consciousness. But in the Tantric writings (as in Galen), the seat of consciousness is trans¬
ferred to the brain or rather the cerebro-spinal system. The Soul (the Jiva) has its special
seat within the Brahmamndhm above the foramen of Monro and the middle commissure,
but traverses the whole cerebro-spinal axis, up and down, along the StiBhitmna (the central
canal of the spinal cord). The Bralimadanda (vertebral column) contains the Brahma-NAdi,
the Sushumna and the ManovaM Nddi. The cerebro-spinal axis with the connected sympa¬
thetic system contains a number of ganglionic centres and plexuses, (Chakras, Padmas)
from which nerves (Ntidis, birds and Dhamanis)* radiate over the head, trunk and limbs.
Section 5.
GANGLIONIC CENTRES AND PLEXUSES (Sympathetic-spinal System).
Beginning with the lower extremity, the centres and plexuses of the connected spinal
and sympathetic systems may be described as follows:—
(1) The Adhtira Chakra, the sacro-coccygeal plexus, with four branches, nine Angulis
(about six inches and a half) below the solar plexus ( Kanda , Brahmagmnthi); the source
of a massive pleasurable sesthesia, voluminous organic sensations of repose. An inch
and a half above it, and the same distance below the membrum virile ( Mehana ) is a minor
centre called the Agni-sikha.
(2) The SvAdhUthAna Chakra, the sacral plexus with six branches (wft, qwrft leaves),
concerned in the excitation of sexual feelings with the accompaniments of lassitude, stupor,
cruelty, suspicion, contempt.
(8) The Ndvi kanda (corresponding to the solar plexus, Bhdnubhavanum )—which
forms the great junction of the right and left sympathetic chains (Pingald and Idd) with
the cerebro-spinal axis.
Connected with this is the Maniyumka , the lumbar plexus with connected sympa¬
thetic nerves, the ten branches of which are concerned in the production of sleep and
thirst, and the expressions of passions like jealousy, shame, fear, stupefaction.
(4) The Andhata Chakra, possibly the cardiac plexus of the sympathetic chain, with
twelve branches, connected with the heart, the seat of the egoistic sentiments, hope,
anxiety, doubt, remorse, conceit, egoism, etc.
* The writers of the Yoga and Tantra schools use the term Nddi, by preference,
for Nerves. They also mean Cranial nerves when they speak of Sirfis, never using the
latter term for Arteries, as in the older medical literature.
48
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 338 )
(5) The Bhamtisthana , the junction of the spinal cord with the medulla oblongata,
which, by means of nerves like the pneumo-gastric, etc., regulate the larynx and other
organs of articulation.
(0) The LalanCt Chakra opposite the uvula, which has twelve leaves (or lobes), sup¬
posed to be the tract affected in the production of ego-altruistic sentiments and affections
like self-regard, pride, affection, grief, regret, respect, reverence, contentment, etc.
(7) The sensori-motor tract, comprising two Chakras, (a) the Ajnfi Chakra, lit. the
cirdle of command (over movements), with its two lobes (the cerebellum), and (b) the
Manaschakra, the sensorium, with its six lobes (five special sensory for peripherally ini¬
tiated sensations, and one common sensory for centrally initiated sensations, as in dreams
and hallucinations).
The Ajna-vaha Nddis, efferent or motor nerves, communicate motor impulses to the
periphery from this Ajtid Chakra , this centre of command over movements; and the
afferent or sensory nerves of the special senses, in pairs, the Oandhavahu Nadi (olfactory
sensory), the Rupavdhd N&di (optic), the liavdavaM Nadi (auditory), the Rasavahd Nadi
(gustatory), and the Sparaiavaha Nadi (tactile), eome from the periphery (the peripheral
organs of the special senses) to this Manaschakra, the sensory tract at the base of the
brain. The Manaschakra also receives the Manovaha Nadi, a generic name for the chan¬
nels along which centrally initiated presentations (as in dreaming or hallucination) come
to the sixth lobe of the Manaschakra .
(8) The Somachakra, a sixteen-lobed ganglion, comprising the centres in the middle
of the cerebrum, above the sensorium;—the seat of the altruistic sentiments and voli¬
tional control, e.g., compassion, gentleness, patience, renunciation, meditativeness,
gravity, earnestness, resolution, determination, magnanimity, etc.; and lastly
(9) The Saha*r&ra Chakra, thousand-lobed, the upper cerebrum with its lobes and
convolutions, the special and highest seat of the Jiva, the soul.
qfjof I SirfaBT* I HmRIT...
Ijsqjr ...TOir OT .drf. I
$$ mm m i i senrzs fedgffs^wdifldi
i mi jri* 3^-
wm mj drctsrofaaT i wnPi okndrcwT %^r iroQT&jf
** UWdHSWflf I ^ FTORR* fRWll*l 3 I TOFT*hTO
3^3 i wmm ' i ^3 m mu
$t¥3T 1 srer fang* gf^FRn <rcp i
WPWT I 535WT flgRWnftfmfrtftr I 3fa: smiWil**) RSP
mi 1 mw* star: gwr 1
iriJiftrar (W) sT*Tf*jqr: i ^^nrmrwrt
Digitized by ^ ooQle
( 339 )
flQinfttfRRlsfhh: I as summarised in Mmodara’s Sangita-
darpana. Vide Sangita-ratn&kara^ verses 110-144) $qffep£<l'|4W
awpS gfo? (swfait )-an *i4*wJ
fawjwnfooraraf^rasn mtag^rei firefil i ?re*n oraigw iwrai^ i
thrown ggRi jRl »foi3 I a 4> a fri w «n$ *rafri ( fejrrcfiw^wwifV* )
35*511 ^ T ^gfarftFft {Juana Sunkaliiu Tantra .) For functions of Ajndvahd
Nddi and Manovahd Nadi, also see Sankara Misra’s Upaskdra.
The cerebro-spinal axis and the heart:—their respective relations to the conscious
life :-Vijn&nabhikshu, in the passage just quoted, identifies the Manovuhd Nddi( vehicle
of consciousness, fawn 5) with the cerebro-spinal axis and its ramifications, and compares
the figure to a inverted gourd with a thousand-branched stem hanging down. The
Sushumna, the central passage of the spinal cord, is the stem of this gourd (or a single
branch). The writers on the Yoga (including the authors of the various Tantric systems)
use the term somewhat differently. On this view, the Manovahd Nadi is the channel of
the communication of the Jiva (soul) with the Manuschakra (sensorium) at the base of the
brain. The sensory currents are brought to the sensory ganglia along afferent nerves
of the special senses. But this is not sufficient for them to rise to the level of discri¬
minative consciousness (flfa*WNJT»Pi) A communication must now be established between
the Jiva (in the Suhaardra Chakra, upper cerebrum) and the sensory currents received at
the sensorium, and this is done by means of the Manordha Nddi. When sensations are
centrally initiated, as in dreams and hallucinations, a special Nadi (Svapnavahd Nadi), which
appears to be only a branch of the Manovahd Nddt, serves as the channel of communication
from the Jiva (soul) to the sensorium. In the same way, the Ajn&vuha Nadi brings down
the messages of the Soul from the Sahasrara (upper cerebrum) to the Ajnd Chakra (motor
tract at the base of the brain), messages which are thence carried further down, along
efferent nerves, to various parts of the pheriphery. I may add that the special sensory
nerves together with the Manovahd Nadi are sometimes generally termed Jndnavahd Nadi,
lit., channel of presentative knowledge. There is no difficulty so far. The Manovahd
N6di and the Ajndvahd Nadi connect the sensori-motor tract at the base of the brain
{Mdnaschakra and Ajnacliakra) with the highest (and special) seat of the soul (Jiva) in
the upper cerebrum (Sahasrfira), the one being the channel for carrying up the sensory,
and the other for bringing down the motor messages. But efforts of the will {Ajnd,
Prayatna ) are conscious presentations, and the Manovahd Nddi must therefore co-operate
with the Ajndvahd in producing the consciousness of effort. Indeed, attention, the
characteristic function of Manas , by which it raises sense-presentations to the level
of discriminative consciousness, implies effort ( Prayatna ) on the part of the soul
(Atman, Jiva), an effort of which we are conscious through the channel of the Manovahd
Nddi. But how to explain the presentation of effort in the motor-nerves ? Sankara
Misra, the author of the Upaskdra on Kanada’s Sutras, argues that the N&dis (even
the volitional or motor nerves) are themselves sensitive, and their affections are conveyed
to the sensorium by means of the nerves of the (inner) sense of touch (which are
interspersed in minute flbrillse among them). The consciousness of effort, then, in any
motor nerve, whether Ajndvahd (volitional-motor), or Prd tavahd (automatic-motor), depends
on the tactile nerves (or nerves of organic sensation) mixed up with it. Thus the
assimilation of food and drink by the automatic activity of the Pranas implies an
(automatic) effort accompanied by a vague organic consciousness, which is
due to the fact that minute fibres of the inner touch-seuse are interspersed with the
machinery of the automatic nerves (the Prdnavahd Nddis),
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 340 )
Wln*3|*l wR ?SIWT^ SRwrWi fWJR wTR^TTfnTTwII JI*W«I fl«lW Wm
jpn} i Hiwig wfitffjpwifnRmft^i **f i sreitn jjwrosfnfNh^ir nftra-
«fhnHWTO^IRft W I <wf^fr3*TS$&*l IRJ^FFFRfhn ips$^ * WWl4*l * ^
*wfii «r «r ^1$ ^ g# \hiRk H ^rr ^OTureifcgro: i
(Sankara Misra’s Upaakara , on Sfltras 14,15, Ahnika 2, Chap. Y.)
The Heart. The heart in the older schools is considered to be the seat of waking
consciousness. For the heart expands during waking life and contracts during sleep.
Sleep (**ro) again is of two kinds (1) dreaming sleep {awapna, aupti) when the
external senses are withdrawn into the heart, but the representative-presentative
faculty (W f *H) wakes, and (2) dreamless sleep (auftipti) -when this last faculty is like¬
wise merged in the mere automatic activity of life.
f^T I gfaf I wfasiIWH SRlfiT
i ar*r wt»p i «n«f%*iftr tflq*# annfti' ftw' gftwj^r-
I HUlf 5g%: HIH iy tfM i— (Sangfta-ratn&kara ).
Section fl.
NBRVB CORDS AND FIBRES (Sympathetic-spinal System).
Nerve-cords and Fibres—Cranial and spinal nerves, and the connected sympathetic
nerves:—With the writers on the Yoga, all the Biros, and such of the Vhamanis as are
not vehicles of vital current, metabolic fluid, lymph, chyle or blood, are cranial nerves,
and proceed from the heart through the spinal cord to the cranium. These cranial nerves
include pairs for the larynx nnd the tongue, for the understanding and use of spech, for
the raising and lowering of the eyelids, for weeping, for the sensations of the special
senses, etc.—a confused snd unintelligent reproduction of Rusruta’s classification. But
the enumeration of the spinal nerves with the connected sympathetic chain and ganglia,
is a distinct improvement on the old anatomists. The following plan attempts to give
a rough idea of the relative position of the principal nerves of the sympathetic-spinal
system.
TRANSVERSE SECTION.
PU6HA
O
PAYASVINI O
SARASWATI
O
P1NQALA
cc/ v
GANDI1ARI
O
O 8ANKHINI
KUHU OIDA
O
Parana
o
VISVODARA
JASA8VINI
HASTIJIHVA
ALAMBUSHA
RIGHT.
LEFT.
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 341 )
The Sttfumiid is the central cord in the vortebral column (w&pw, it*). The two chains
i f sympathetic-ganglia on the left and the right are named Ida and Piugald respectively.
The sympathetic nerves have tlicir main connection with 8naumv& at the solar plexus
(Hiyra*, wrf*rv»i in the or atpgf**). Of the seven hundred nerve-cords of the
sympathetic-spinal system (uftuvr : feangita-ratnfikara), the fourteen most important are :—
(1) Sufiumnd , in the central channel of the spinal cord.
(2) Ida, the left sympathetic chain stretching from under the loft nostril to below
the left kidney,—in the form of a bent bow.
(3) Piugald, the corresponding chain on the right.
(4) Kuhn, the pudie nerve of the sacral plexus, to the left of the spinal cord.
(6) Gaiulhdrf, to the back of the left sympathetic chain,—supposed to stretch from
below the corner of the left eye to the left leg. It was evidently supposed that some
nerves of the cervical plexus came down through the spinal cord and joined on to the
great sciatic nerve of the sacral plexus.
(0) Hastijihvd, to the front of the left sympathetic chain stretching from below the
corner of the left eye to the great toe of the left foot, on the same supposition as before.
Pathological facts were believed to point to a special nerve connection between the eyes
and the toes.
(7) Saravvuti, to the right of Suinmnd, stretching up to the tongue (the hypo-glossal
nerves of tlie cervical plexus).
(8) Pufd, to the back of the right sympathetic chain, stretching from below
the corner of the right eye to the abdomen (a connected chain of cervical and lumbar
nerves).
(9) Payasviui , between Pusfi and Karasvati, auricular branch of the cervical
plexus on the right.
(10) SanUhinf, between Gandhfiri and Sarasvati, auricular branch of the cervical
plexus on the left.
(11) Yaiaaviui, to the front of the right sympathetic chain, stretching from the
right thumb to the right leg (the radial nerve of the brachial plexus continued on to
certain branches of the great sciatic).
(12) Yd rand, the nerves of the sacral plexus, between Kuhn and Jasasvini, ramify¬
ing over the lower trunk and limbs.
(18) Visvodara, the nerves of the lumbar plexus, between Kuhu and Hastijihva,
ramifying over the lower trunk and limbs.
(14) Alambu^a, the coccygeal nerves, proceeding from the sacral vertebra* to the
urino-genitary organs.
(Vide Sangita-ratuAkara, wren , slokas 144-156. Also, the Yog&rnava.)
Section 7.
AUTOMATIC AND REFLEX ACTIVITY OF THE ORGANISM
—THE FORTY-NINE VAYVS .
Charaka describes Ydyu as that which keeps the machine of the body at work, the
prime-mover, the impelling force which sets in motion the organs (including the senses
and the mind), which arranges the cells and tissues, and which uufolds or develops the
foetal structure out of the fertilised ovum. Charaka and Susrnta notice the five chief
VAyus with their functions in the maintenance of the animal life, Susrnta mentions
Digitized by L^ooQle
( 342 )
PvA\iu as having its course in the mouth, and concerned in deglutition, hiccough, res¬
piration, etc., UdCnia as concerned in articulation and singing, SamAua as digesting the
food in the stomach in conjunction with the animal heat, Vydna as coursing all over the
body, driving the chyle and causing the flow of blood and sweat, and Apuua as having
its seat in the intestinal region, and sending down the uro*genital secretions. (Susruta—
KidAnasthdna, Chapter I.)
In the mediieval physiology the number of VAyua is given as 49. As in Charaka
and Susruta, the Vayua are regarded as the moving or impelling forces that work the
organism and all its automatic and reflex machinery. The A] nd-valid Kadis (efferent
nerves) are only channels for the conduction of commands of the self or the will
; the VAyns, on the other hand, are forces (or currents) that maintain the automatic,
reflex or instinctive activities of the organism. The ten chief Vayua with their
functions are enumerated thus
(1) Pmiia, which works the ideo-motor verbal mechanism and vocal apparatus,
the respiratory system, the muscles engaged in coughing, sighing, etc.
(2) Apdna , which ejects the excretions and wastes, the urine, the fa?ces, the sperm
and germ-cells, etc.
(8) Vydm, whose work is extension, contraction and flexion of the muscles, tendons
and ligaments ; the stored-up energy of the muscles.
(4) Samdna, the force, which, in conjunction with animal heat, works the machinery
of metabolism, in the maintenance of the organic life. It drives or propels the chyle,
blood, and every other current ( Srota ) or circulating fluid in the body.
(5) Uddna, concerned in maintaining the erect posture of the body.
(6) Ndgu, which is concerned in involuntary retching, vomiting.
(7) Kurma, which works the automatic movement of the eyelids, winking, etc.
(8) Krikara , concerned with the appetites of hunger and thirst.
(9) Devadatta, which brings about yawning, dozing, etc.
(10) Dhaiuijaya , which is concerned with coma, swooning, trance.
Sig: d^W^W SRlfcu JR*?:, *TR%3RTr
*F*TTO*: rtW, SR:, ^TT sfflfcrRt, |
SIKUmi^lTORWwiWI^n ( ^ Chapter XII ) HRf:
.*** RR:...
mW fflT ^ I Sift? srf^TT |
sprout i <TdHwi^:feRT: 3$r<if^
Cf. the Summary in Raja Sourindra Mohan Tagore’s edition of the Sangita Darpana.
( SR*) MWIg! I I g TTflpTTOTRrrf^ RRR
^ I SfffaR I 3g R 3T g : 3^ afa*R&j
to <rg ?m: i qfrqi wrfftr ^ m ww
{timifjitudarjxi'ui, Chap, 1, Mokas 48-48). Cf.
the extract in Sankara.
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nwr: MH i ftlWa i m iqi ftwtf i «m*r: wwijftwwilfawSi «n*t: a«ft: «wft
*&IH: tg: I *TOCT: m Sflfs *T: **•
I | (Sdriraku Bhdsya, Chap. II, Pada 4, Sutra 2.)
Section 8.
FCETAL DEVELOPMENT (AFTER SUSHUTA). *
The ovum fertilised by the sperm-cell and developing under the influence of animal-
heat forms successive layers and tissues, even as layers of cells and fibres are formed
in wood. First are formed seven layers, epithelial and dermal ( Saptatn'acha ), then follow
the several tissues (Kaldh), the flesh, the vascular tissue, the fat and marrow, the lym¬
phatic and (glandular) tissuo, the intestinal tissues, the biliary and the seminal vessels.
These tissues are regarded by some as modifications of the original dermal layers of the
ovum (cf. the layers of the blasto-derm and their relation to the tissues in Embryology).
The tissues are supposed to be developed successively, one out of another, by chemical
action or metabolism (paka), e.n., chyle is transformed into blood, blood into flesh, flesh
into fat, fat into bone, bone (in reality, fat in the bones) into marrow, marrow into sperm¬
cell. The organs are next formed out of the tissues. The liver, gall-bladder (kloma>,
spleen and lungs are referred to the blood ; the intestines to the blood, lymph and bile ;
the kidneys to the blood and fat; the testicles to the blood, lymph and fat; the heart to
the blood and lymph ; and the tongue to the lymph, blood and flesh. Vdyu, with the accom¬
paniment of animal heat, impels the 1 currents ’ (srotcimsi) in the system ; Vdyu noting on
the flesh gives rise to the muscles; and it is Vdyu, again, which, with the essence of fat (or
marrow), produces the nerves, arteries and tendons (Susruta, Sarirasthana, Chapter IV,
and Sutinstlwna, Chapter XIV).
The following parts (tissues and organs) in the foetus are in a special sense modi¬
fications of the four organic substances (compounds) contributed by the sperm-cell of the
male-parent, hair, nails, teeth, bones, nerves, veins, and arteries, tendons and ligaments, and
the sperm-cell; the following of the four organic substances are derived from the mother:
skin, blood, flesh, fat, the heart, liver and spleen, kidneys, stomach, intestines, &c. (Charaka,
Sarirasthana , Chapter III).
The rudiments of the head and the limbs begin to appear in the third, month, and are
developed in the fourth ; the bones, ligaments, nails, hair, &c. become distinct in the sixth.
In the second month the sexual character is indicated by the shape of the foetus, the shape
of a round joint (?) indicating the male sex, and an elongated shape as of a muscle (?) the
female sex [cf. Charaka, Sarirasthana , Chapter IV,—xr: fir**; i ^
fiw 3**: ^ *|UJ3W.' Chakrap&ni notes w i uranwt: i t
srffihm loc cit.
Section 9.
HEREDITY.
Transmission of specific characters—what parental characters are transmitted
to offspring. The question is raised in Charaka (and earlier still, in the Brfihmatias)
how specific characters are transmitted,—why the offspring is of the same species as the
parental organism, say, the human or bovine species, the equine species (Charaka), or the
Asvattha species, Ficus religiosa, (Sankara Brihadaranyaka-bhSsya). Species (x)m:) may be
compared to so many moulds as it were, into which the ovum is cast, even as molten
metals are cast in moulds. This is of course only an illustrative analogy; the cause
has to be investigated.
* Reproduced from uiy monograph in Dr. Ray’s Hindu Chemistry , Yol. II.
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Now Charaka and Susruta, following Dhauvautari, hold that the fostos, or rather the
fertilised ovum, develops by palingenesis (instead of epigeuesis); in other words, all the
organs are potentially present therein at the same time and nnfold in a certain order. As
the sprouting bamboo-seed contains in miniature the entire structure of the bamboo, as the
mango blossom contains the stone, the pulp, the Abres, which appear separated and distinct
in the ripe fruit, though from their excessive minuteness they Are undistinguishable in the
blossom, even such is the case with the fertilised ovum.
ft WWl:... wfffTOlpft SWlRlf I
ri* <nm tfitom' twS
vnnnk * ■. fat 4kKi<0«it w. swrort ^iRi
fa l ffr sft IUMRI: I t* TOW RffW's Wg flW fW l T S ’ wfo* m*fa
TO&G I (Snsrnta, Urfrtrasth-tna, Chap. 111).
Tho inheritance of speciAc characters is explained in accordance with this view.
Charaka assumes that the sperm-cell of the male parent contains minute elements derived
from each of its organs aud tissues. (Cf. Darwin’s gemmule and Spencer’s * ids ’). Sankara
similarly states that the sporm-cell (or the seed in the case of a plant) represents in
miniature every organ of the parent orgauism, and contains in potciitia the whole
organism that is developed out of it. 9**nf?v »Charaka frarira-
sthftna. Chapter IV, cf. Sankara on Brihad&ranyaka.)
But if this is so, why are not congenital deformities of the parent, or constitutional
diseases contracted in later life, invariably inherited ? Congenital blindness, deafness,
dumbness, stammering, lameness, or deformity of the spinal column or of the bony frame-
wor^or dwarfish stature, or constitutional diseases like madness, leprosy, or skin diseases
in the parent, do not necessarily produce corresponding deformities or infirmities in the
offspring. It cannot therefore be that the fertilised ovum represents in miniature every
organ and tissue of the parental organisms. The solution of this difficulty Charaka
ascribes to Atreya. The fertilised ovum, it is true, is composed of elements which arise
from the whole parental organism but j s n ot the developed organs
of the parents, with their idiosyncracies or acquired characters, that determine or contri¬
bute the elements of the sporm-cell (or seed). The parental Vija (seed, germ-plasm)
contains the whole parental organism in miniature (or in polentia), but it is independent of
the parents’ developed organs, and is uot necessarily affected by their idiosyncracies or
deformities. In fact, the parental Vija (seed, germ-plasm) is an organic whole indepen¬
dent of the developed parental body and its organs. In the parental Vija, an element repre¬
senting a particular organ or tissue may happen (for this is accidental, to be defective
or undeveloped, or otherwise abnormally characterised, and in this case the correspond¬
ing organ or tissue of the offspring will be similarly characterised. When constitutional
diseases, acquired in later life, are found to be inherited, Atreya would suppose that the
Vija of the parent has been affected, and this would explain the fact of the inheritance.
In the case of leprosy, for example, it is transmitted to the offspring, only when the
germ-plusm (the Vija or the fertilised ovum) is infected with the virus of the disease by
reason of the loprosy of the parent (vide Oharaka’s report of Atreya’s theory, .Sariras-
tliftna). ^ ® «
qpim sroiwjwt «wf TOwrori to: i <iwifai
nm i ftnw t toVwt «nwt to: tor t nft
qMtaft wm flgwww: TOf ngwrffafar ngww* ngunreq: i
.ipyqn»yqjpw: TOTtfa and TOT
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ftrifara: w mnn: i *w «jjv«nww aqgw* i
wm
5IRIIS
*1 *13^! HJWIJWWIJ
»f *lflPn et 8cq .*.......... •••♦•
q^0) ‘ q Jigwh flgwflHCT: 59TO 3Wlf^I aim: *T W?ftR*
«kh mnyw^t sftnviw 3tpt?rf *wfi» aw aw wifwww wumi t ^?-
siwd w wgwmnat . awia. awtmftrc^ra I «$w * wowisft^aifili *n*rondg-
fa 1 aan 4 a> i *d< h «f i fr«h man foproram >w£a 1 ( aw wflwua <pforcrfNfa )
**qsfo fBfijWT^Bftiftjacm^i: 1 a^iWd^iafa’ *Ni ffta* 1
N. B .—The sevonth tissue (the Hukradfumi kalfi, sperm-bearing or reproductive) con¬
tains the parental Vija, which is a minute organism ( qyumst ) deriving its olemeuts
from the parental organs, but distinct from tho latter, and independent of their peculiari¬
ties, aud it is the combination and characters of those constituent elements of the parental
Vija in the reproductive tissue, that determine tho physiological characters and predis¬
positions of the offspring. We may call this Atreya’s yei-m-plaum theory , for it is an advance
on the conception of gcminulcs and of ids, but in Atreya’s version, the germ-plasm is not
only representative of tho somatic tissues, hut also generates and is generated by the
latter. This mutual interaction of the * germ-plasm ’ and ‘somatic tissues ’ is a distinctive
feature of Atreya’s hypothesis, tho value of which will be differently estimated by different
schools of biologists.
I may also add that the continued identity of the germ-plasm (wtoi) from genera¬
tion to generation, though it follows as a corollary from this doctrine of a distinct
reproductive tissue, oven when conceived to be affected by somatic processes, as
Atreya and Charaka conceive it to be, is nowhere expressly deduced. On tho other
hand, Atreya and Charaka emphasise the influence of abundant or defective nutrition, and
of the (chemical) constitution of the food, etc., on the characters of tho Vija in the re¬
productive (issuo, especially as regards the sexual character, tho stature, and tho colour
pigment (u*) of the offspring. But though the influence of nutrition on the Vija is thus
freely admitted in a general way, it is expressly stated that tho peculiar characters or
idiosyncrasies of the elements that combine to form the Vija must be regarded as a
matter of chance (K in other words, the truly congenital variations are accidental.
Section 10 .
THE SEX QUESTION.
Influence of nutrition on the ovum especially as regards the sex, stature and colour-
pigment of the resulting offspringIn a general way, ghee and milk for tho male,
and oil and beans for the female parent, are favourable to the Vija. The sexual
character of the offspring depends in part on a periodicity to which the life-history
of the ovum in the female parent is couceived to be subject—a law of alternate
rhythmic change (not unlike what wo now know to regulate the development of several
orders of bacteria or unicellular organisms), a law, under which tho fertilisation of the
ovum on tho fourth day after tho menstrual discharge, or on tho alternate days succeed¬
ing, is favourable to the foetus developing the male sexual character, and on the fifth,
seventh, and alternate following days, to the foetus assuming tho female sex. Tho Prayoya
chintinnani states that the latter occurs on even days, aud tho former on odd d;iys. Another
factor is the relative prodominance of the sporm and the germ-cells in the fertilised ovum.
Exoess of tho sperm-cell produces tho male, that of the germ-cell the female. For male
offspring of tall stature, fair complexion and energetic temperament, wheat pulp with
44
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honey, ghee (clarified butter), and milk should be taken by the female parent.
Generally speaking, the adoption of the food, clothing, habits, of people of any particular
clime are supposed to be favourable to the production of their characteristic stature and
complexion. As to sex, the foetus for a time remains indeterminate, and then takes on a
definite male or female character, but before this stage is reached, the development of
the sex can be modified to some extent by food and drugs As for the colour-
pigment, it is the animal heat (Ttitrarg) which is its source ; but where the Ak&fci and
Ap-particles predominate (in the food), the animal heat (of the metabolic processes) produces
a fair complexion ; where earth and V&yu particles predominate in the food, blackness is the
result, and where the different bhutaa are combined in nearly equal proportion in the
food, the metabolic heat produces a dark pigment. In the later literature, ghee (clarified
butter) habitually taken by the female during gestation is supposed to produce a fair
complexion ; and rice (or wheat) and salads, a dark complexion. Charaka also holds that
mental impressions of the parent are powerful factors in the determination of the cha¬
racters of the offspring.
writ riHfcrf ritffcri gtiwm am
tfgstr srit mhaf srJNta# i.._ fawfiwwfiy i mn
aww g’^vM^iwwA gwim
A qariforwf gw famg 1
vbi gfV tmg w w ’gg flrajqfofe 1 signing ,
nggfit'wH ?tmm: *h: ggwwwn mrai wraw am m mtt
wd gate saa <nara ..m gmmat gaga" gmiRir-
gr w?Ri gamwir gigrcfogrlw w ’ rifewHl gafaahw rnmr aw I
a gg wrftitf tifomw" gfiig mgs ura:
mi fa 1 grariNigaig: sra: iwmjws 1 gtwtaig: aw 1 wMw 1
gift** lag; gmi s*mgw WSsfigg’ 1
8ECTI0N It.
LIFE.
The question of the vital force or vital principle
These activities maintain the life of the organism, but what is this life itself ?
The C harvdkus (materialists and sensationalists) answer that life (as well as conscious¬
ness) is a result of peculiar chemical combinations of dead matter (or the four elements)
in organic forms, even as the intoxicating property of spirituous liquors results
from the fermentation of unintoxicating rice and molasses. Similarly, the instinctive
movements and expressions of new-boru babes (sucking, joy, grief, fear, etc.) can
be explained mechanically as due to external stimuli as much as the opening and closing
of the lotus and other flowers at different hours of the day (or night), or the movement of
iron under the influence of the loadstone. In the same way, the spontaneous generation
of living organisms is frequently observed, e.y. t the case of animalcules which develop in
moisture or infusions, especially under the influence of gentle warmth (^qsr, «***,
qjpuW'3:), or of the maggots or other worms which, in the rainy season, by reason of
the atmospheric moisture, are developed in the constituent particles of curds and the like,
which begin to live and move in so short a time.
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(Gotama, in his Sutras , reports the Ch&rv&ka explanation of instinctive emotional
expressions in babes nfjpiTT: Sutra 20, Ahnika 1, Chapter III, cf. the
explanation of the movement preparatory to sucking;— fflnraxfa* Jautra
23, ibid. Jayanta, in the Nyayamanjari, reports the Charv&ka explanation of conscious¬
ness (and life).
i wiR d^iiRv i ^
Eor spontaneous generation, vide Jayanta's report.
(iVydj/a -uuiHjari, Ahnika 7,
The Sdnkhya view of consciousness—Reply to the materialists—
The intoxicating power in liquor is a force, i.c., a tendency to motion, and this is the
resultant of the tendencies (or subtile motions) present in the particles of the fermented
rice, molasses, etc. A motion, or a tendency to motion, can in this way be the resultant of
several other motions or tendencies. But consciouness (fan) is not a motion, and cannot
be the resultant of (unconscious) natural forces or motions. Neither can the conscious¬
ness of the Self, or of the organism as a whole, bo supposed to be the resultant of innumer¬
able consciousnesses vested in the innumerable constituent particles of the body. One
central abiding intelligence is a simpler and therefore more legitimate hypothesis than
an assemblage of consciousnesses latent in different Bhutas or particles, cf. Vijnanabhik-
su’s comment on the Sutra, (Sutra 22, Chapter III.)
*3 wr ^ ^nf^Rr sk&u-
qRi «2 rRi i 3 wlwRw^ •!!%...*13
i whwyfa nr#nr
I Cf. also
<TOT J f^TT I ibid.
m n q gl fifr f 3^f: I TORWPHT f ^ TO #: SjtfftrcRS*
STO I 51 ^ I
(Vijnfinabhiksu— Pravachanubhdshya, Sutra, 22 Chapter 111).
Cf. also Gangadhara’s Julpakal[Kitaru, (1867, Calcutta)—explaining the distinction
between property (*jqj) and power (mira), a technical term in medicine, which is a form of
motion Sutmsthana , Jalpakalpataru.
The Sankhya view of Prana (life)
Life, according to the Sankhya, is not a Vdyn (biomechanical force) nor any mere
mechanical motion resulting from the impulsion of V&yu. The live vital operations,
Prfina, Apfiua, etc., are called rdi/iw, but this is only a metaphor. Life is in reality a
reflex activity, a resultant of the various concurrent activities of the Antalikaranus, i.c.,
of the sensori-motor *r"Tf*sF»), the emotional (*pt:) and the apperceptive reactions
of the organism (for some add
Vijn&nabhiksu notes that this oxplains tlio disturbing (elevatingor depressing) effect,
on the vitality, of pleasurable or painful emotions like love ( ), which are activities
of Manas , one of the Antuhkuraias concerned in the reactions of the living organism.
On the Sankhya view, then, Prana or life is not a Vayu, nor is it evolved from the Bhutas,
inorganic matter. Pr&ua is only a complex reflex activity ( *fn ) resulting from the
operations of the psycho-physical principles or forces in the organism, (cf. Bankar*
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reporting the Sdnkhya view-$|jg|ft ftaaf*?: aWt Wqtfct aWIIWf ffV aftnw^ I
&ariraka-bha*ya t Chapter IT, Pada 4, Siltra 9) CTqRTTTOffo : STHUTOT I
(IsvarakrLsna, Karika).
Also Sfltra 81, Chapter II, where Vijnanabhiksu notes :—
*rw nftrarr: i wm* fora:
l arft«i$4w srengi i aft g ft 4 r ft fo i 4 ; ^*k«ini-
^ *nfe | Vijnfinabhik.su, Praotirhand-bhiHija, Chapter II, Sutras, 31, 32.
Jnm^TOPIT HTHRlfaWlN^l ^rf^IR^ I ibid.
The Ved&ntic view of Pro na.
The Vedfintists are believers in an independent vital principle. They agree with
the S&nkhyas in holding that Prd >u is neither a Vdyn, nor the operation of a Vfiyu. But
neither is Life a mere reflex or resultant of concurrent sensori-motor, emotive and
apperceptive reactions of the organism. You may put eleven birds in a cago, and if they
concurrently and continually strike against the bars of th j cage in the same direction,
the cage may move on under this conjoint action. But the sensory and motor activities
cannot in this way originate the vital activity of tho organism. Por the deprivation of
anyone or more of the senses does not mean a deprivation of life, and above all there is
this radical distinction : there is sameness of kind between tho motions of tho
individual birds and the resultant motion of the cage, but the sensations do not explain
life. Life (Pr&na) must therefore be recognised as a separate principle, just as the
Manus and the Antahkurunas generally are in the Sftnkhya Philosophy. Life is a sort of
subtle rarefied ‘ ether-principle ' (wrrwj) pervasive of the organism,—which is not
gross Vayu, but is all tho samo subtilised matter, like the Manas itself, for, in the
Vedfinta, everything other than the Self is “material ”(*!*)
This Life is prior to the senses, for it regulates the development of the fertilised
ovum which would putrefy if it wore not living, and tho senses with their apparatus
develop subsequently out of the ovum (* mgfanl Chapter II, Pada 4, Sutra 9,
vide Sariraka Bhfisya Sankara,—also, Vachaspati Misra, Bhfimati
a stun: l a ft ftrfoawr sir f R w&t a?4# «n i si
am* fafacTPii i a^ama*t?u at ^ w l gfo ci &tHMwi i s -
flftg agft i a a afftfsaiw* fo ft $ i gg 4 ftftftfear ar’
aaft i a a wtasr ai' i aar aft arniarfftsara'm' :i a wgrercsifft
Pw i y i Pa aa. aawwwwwjgiMiJwarnl^a i aar aaaf arftftr£r wm?:
Mi qMiag sg; i ggg awn a arigftft fas* aangwrai-
gspaftafttaamsapgrftw: angaw i ** * aangwt arjfoarwir ang.* i *## aigSar-
smta i tfl aag! ga^tsft aag: i sankim, ibid. of. also, ang: g*ft4^raigRwi aw
^ftgnata.i fftsna: wm ?pb* ijft a wtaftftag
gmaftaaifts’rtft fftaiaia I Sankara, on Sutra 9, Pada 4, Chapter II.
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APPENDIX D.
HINDU IDEAS ON MECHANICS (KINETICS).
Section t.
ANALYSIS OP MOTION.
In his Bha§ya on the Vaisesika Aphorisms written probably in the third or fourth
century of the Christian era, if not earlier, Prasastupada begins the Section on Motion
(sp* a**) with the definition of karma (motion, lit. work) as the unconditional cause of
conjunction and disjunction, i.e., of change of place in a particle sires).
Ho regards Karma (motion) as instantaneous (*f**i) in its simplest form, distinguishing
it from Vega (impressed motion, momentum) which is a persistent tendency, Sansk&ra,
and implies a series of motions. Accordingly in one and the same particle, there can be
only one motion (karma) at any given moment, since its change of place at that moment is
one and definite (VW **fa*ff 5*^ The supposition
of two (instantaneous) motions in the same particle is superfluous. They may be
so opposed as to neutralise each other, in which case the particle would be at rest.
If they aro not so opposed, and motion (i.e., an instantaneous change of place)
follows, then, since this change of place is a definite change, one motion would
be sufficient to account for it, and the hypothesis of two motions would be mean¬
ingless (*r* wrn: fyfl* Prasastap&da). One and the
same motion can affect only one particle, as the changes of place of different particles
must be different (*^ *p#*^*p* Ibid.)
Now motion is always marked by a certain direction (f^W*fsn*h**WlTO*
(i) The successive motions of a particle may be in the same directiou (rectilinear)
e.g!, (a) upward or downward vertical motion, as in throwing upwards or downwards in
the ease of objects moved by volition directly or indirectly (wjiw, trafai), or (b) other
forms of rectilinear motion, contraction, dilation (*n*p**,
or (ii) the directions of the successive motions may be different as in curvilinear
motion tflrofwmnw n^wi), e .g„ (rotatory motion), (vibratory
motion), etc. All these arc varieties of Gamana (w, curvilinear motion)
visijrt — Ibid—ct. Sankara Misra, *
m**^****^^ wrc* In another sense, all kinds of motion in
material (inanimate) objects, whether rectilinear or curvilinear, are called Gamana (wi).
*s*fa**fi? * wj ***8*3 ira *?** ws* * 1 *ij wwft* 7I3
* PrasastapAda, 1
Single particles, then, may have a serial motion when particles (TOW:) combine
to form a body (ww), they may move continuously in a straight line, in which case
the body is said to move in that direction qraqmisfitHii the action
of a composite whole is determined by the action of the constituent parts taken
together). But different particles may move iu differeut directions, or again, the par¬
ticles may have a curvilinear motion, and in such cases it appears as if different
motions are impressed on the body, <?.g., the falling leaf driven by the wind may have
a rotatory or vibratory motion (n**, w**) and a vertical downward motion (***) at the same
time. Here each particle of the leaf taken separately has only one motion or change of
place at the same moment, but from the point of view of the observer ffjr, the particles
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have a rotatory or vibratory motion in one relation, and the leaf as a whole has a down*
ward motion in another relation. The motion at any instant is really one, bat for con¬
venience of analysis we consider the rotatory change of place as separate from the change
of place in the downward direction, TOfaiq TOW* WTOTOPftTO WTO to wafwr i to
■ * wwsTOftfr froroi ^n\—ibid.
Section 2.
MOTION CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO ITS CAUSES.
Various kinds of motion are observed
I. Movements which are not caused by contact with matter:—
(1) Movements caused by volition (TO*) e.g., the movement of the hand.
(2) Movement, as of a falling body. This is caused by gravity (3***) which in the
astronomical treatises of Aryabhata, Brahmagupta and Bh&skara, is ascribed to the attrac¬
tion (wuriw, pulling force) exercised by the Earth on a material body. The force of
gravity may be counteracted by volition (fro**, TO*) as in holding of the hand, or by con¬
tact, as when a body rests on a support, or by vega (^*i), impressed motion, as in the flying
arrow which is kept from falling by the motion impressed on it.
(8) Motion of fluids, as the downward flow in a stream (wr*^). This is due to fluidity
(*ws) which is a characteristic property of certain kinds of atoms, in some cases original,
in others produced by the contact of these atoms with the atomic particles of heat (e.g ,
in the fire). But Sankara Misra points out that this proporty, fluidity, is only a concomi¬
tant condition (TOtoRNuw), the efficient cause (fwfiwiKw) is even in this case gravity (3***)
in the particles of the fluid, TOJt uw TOTOft wwnj jswtu fnf^rwifin
TOTOR)*f<%3. (Sankara Misra, Upask&ra, B on Sutra 4, Ahinka 2, Chap. V, of the Vaisesika
Sutras).
(4) Certain motions, not due to material contact, of which the mechanical causes are
unknown and which may be ascribed to the universal final cause, Adnata e.g., the
first motion in atoms at the beginning of creation, the upward motion of fiery particles or
atoms, and the oblique motion of gaseous particles, vdyu, (w*), the movement of iron
towards the magnet, capillary motion (wf*wsw) as of liquid particles from the root to the
stem of a plant. The upward motions of water-particles in evaporation and in
boiling do not require the hypothesis of Adrif ta, as these are caused by the pressure of
heat corpuscles TOWj) and the contact with air particles —
Vaisesika Sutra, Chap. V, Ahnika 2).
MEANING OF ADRISTA (*^f)
Adriata (lit. unseen) stands for * unknown cause * or ( unexplained Nature ’ in the
earlier Vaisesika writers. Several classes of cases falling under Adrifta are distin¬
guished, e.g.
(t) the operation of merit and demerit (**$) and (TO*$), a transcendental cause,
which has to be posited in explaining the conjunctions and disjunctions of souls with
their organic vehicles (bodies), which cannot be ascribed to natural causes, but presup¬
pose the law of karma, or the operation of moral causation, as super-imposed on the
natural order,
(2) various kinds of motion, in the different classes of elements, e.g., their natural
modes of operation, such as the dispersion of V&yu (air, gas), the upward motion of
fire, the attraction of the needle by the magnet, etc., motions which serve the ends
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of Creation and of created beings fWWfc), Such natural properties must be
ascribed to Adrista, final causality ('dmmjmuwrf' provided the cruise cannot be
ascertained byobsei'vation or inference.
x. awisfowro* wxfamfm i n — ma. etc.
2 . <wwq i g« i .n^wj4<ii>qwxwrc< i* mwwwwi’
wcwifia-xx>i<x.
Jayanta in the Nyfiya-Manjari notes that Adrista is resorted to in explanation of
observed phenomena only when these cannot be derived in any way from the operation of
known causes—u f^pfu fii’ i
i —Ahnika I.
Similarly, Jayanta notes that, when anything is put down as natural (Wflk*), we may
mean either that it has no cause or no uniform cause, or no known cause. Of these, the
first two alternatives must always be dismissed. And ‘ natural' can only mean something of
which no cause has yet been ascertained ( wre r fa* uni W i u
n««n^n<i» . utR uni' *uniTOrf) —TOtauufurrq i
This sound interpretation of Adrista was afterwards obscured. In modem writers of
the Nyaya-Vaisesika School, physical and mechanical ideas have suffered a set-back,
and even the formation of the hailstone is ascribed to the operation of moral causes
II. We come now to motions produced by contact Such motions may be classed
as follows, according to the nature of the contact originating them
(1) Motion due to direct contact with a body exercising continued pressure
e.g. y the motion of an object pushed or pulled by the hand, the motion of the mud under
heavy stones, the motion of the arrow duo to the pressure exercised by the bowstring, the
motion of the bowstring due to the pressure of the elastic bow as it recovers its original
shape, the motion of clouds, of volumes of dust, of balloons, sailing vessels, and other
vehicles, under the impelling force (pressure, of the wind, etc.
UU*: (Prasastap&da, oqftw -- fri i u n rt TUT f$Mf<m*<lMnfMSiqn frfa iu wifl i Sridhara
HTfyryrm frf re q r u i Itout^Ht (balloons in the sky) TOPnftrcu
(Udayana, Kiranfivali, ^Tjfu^q^)
1V.B. Udayana makes a similar reference to balloons filled with gas or smoke (^urcRil
in discussing the opinion that air has weight (Kiran&vali, These passages
show that balloons were known in Udayana’s time (974 A. D,—vtde Laksan&vali).
(2) Motion due to direct contact for an instant with a body that strikes and
produces an impact (t^ww) e. g„ in the cases of a stone falling against a hard object
( H W Urf^ u --Sridhara), the potter’s rod striking the wheel, the mortar
struck against the pestle. Instantaneous disjunction is necessary to impact. If there
is continued contact, the result is pressure In some cases there may be disjunc¬
tion (i.e., a rebound) after continued pressure (** wfHUPtfi fitfropll
(3) Motion due to direct contact with an elastic body which exercises a moving force
by means of its elasticity (fwfitaWTO*) in the act of restitution of the original form,
(TO fluH TOq*fii) e g„ the motion of the bow-string due to the force exercised by the piece of
bamboo (the bent bow). This force of restitution in an elastic body is a kind of sanskftra,
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Le., persistent tendency —^iPTORRpff*^
bows, twigs, tooth-bones, horn, thread, cloth, etc., are noted as elastic).
(4) Motion due to contact with a body which is itself in contact with another which
possesses Vega (impressed motion or momentum). ( ) This is the fact
of the transmission of pressure or moving force, and the consequent production or
communication of motion, as for example, in the pulling of an object by means of a string,
the pushiug of the potter’s wheel by the potter’s rod, etc.
Section 3.
CAUSE OP MOTION, OR FORCE.
Force is of the following kinds : —
1. Continued pressure
2. Impact («fiwni).
8. Persistent tendency (vmnj of which there are two kinds— (a) Vega (^*1 impressed
motion, momentum), the persistent tendency to motion in a moving body, and (b) the
tendency to restitution of shape in an elastic body (fbtfinmromwrt).
N. B.—The metaphysical scimkrfra is here omitted.
4. Transmitted force, as in pulling by a string, pushing by a rod, etc.
5. Gravity.
8. Fluidity.
7. Volition.
8. Adripta, comprising various unknown agencies.
In every case of motion produced by contact, Vega is a contributary cause, as the
body originating the motion must possess Vega (impressed motion, momentum).
The concept of Vega ww),
A motion (karma) being conceived as a change of place in a particle is held to be
incapable of producing another motion ; but the pressure, impact or other force which
produces the first motion produces through that motion a santkdm or persistent tendency
to motion (vega), which is the cause of continued motion in a straight line, i.e., in the
direction of the first motion ( faaffo ^ finish wvhm ftnr
The Vaisesikas accept one sanskfira (impressed motion, momentum) lasting till the
cessation of the motion. Udyotak&ra and other writers of the Ny&ya School suppose a
series of $anskdra8 t each generating the one that succeeds it. (raiti siflil
lycflni). It will be seen that the Nyfrya view is adequate
to explain acceleration which it logically implies. The force of sanskira (¥fc) diminishes
by doing work against a counteracting force, apd whon t’ie sanskdra is in this
way entirely destroyed, the moving body comes to rest (<MW^ wrww—wnwwwwrW i nr nr
m m ega, it will be
seen, corresponds to inertia in some rospocts, and to momentum (impressed motion) in
others. This is the nearest approach to Newton’s First Law of Motion in the Vaisesika
theory of motion.
Vega (impressod motion), or this tendency to move on in a straight line, is counteract*
ed by contact with tangible objects e.p, by impact or friction (including
friction with the still atmosphere (fwfawij), as in the case of the arrow).
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Vega (momentum) produces work in opposition to the resisting force, and thereby
becomes weaker and weaker until it comes to an end. (Ufli »jfTW!TO 5^5
Prasastapada,
to: ftowfn *t(flj[Mwiw fto (%iftosi3-HTto^w9Hfcrc, e^ntftowi)
Causes of Pressure (^*1) and of Impact (vftom).
Pressure is produced by contact acting in conjunction with Vega (impressed motion),
elasticity, gravity, fluidity or volition ; e g., the Vega of the wind produces pressure (%^i|)
on the grass, that of a current of water on the reed, that of the bowstring on the arrow.
Gravity with contact produces pressure, as when the earth sinks under a heavy load.
Impact is produced by contact with a body possessing Vega (impressed motion)
where tho contact is instantly followed by disjunction (or rebounding). If the contact
continues, the result is pressure (rw ftfhonn: u:
«toi-fato: «rai *33 nfi .torihot m
* eftoru wfn—).
It is expressly noted that the four elements, earth, water, air and fire, a^e all
subject to the forces of pressure and impact. Pressure and impact may be of different
degrees So also vega (impressed motion, momentum.)
Illustrations of Combination of Forces.
(1) Pressure acting concurrently with impressed motion or vega, as when the moving
hand possessing Vega throws the quoit or a projectile. wiftfv :) im:
iwrni srmf
Similarly, in the case of the bowstring impelling the arrow, or the potter’s wheel
impelled by the rod, the first motion is due to pressure (^5*), and results in a
sanskdra (persistent tendency to motion, impressed motion or momentum), but the subse¬
quent motions are produced by the pressure acting concurrently with the sanskdra
(impressed motion) (uwn TOifrau nrau urau
urfamrro ***?(* srftoraro swim *
3 uk 1 wta «iph**5#, iri urn)
(2) Impact (*rftora) with impressed motion (TOGPC), as when the mortar thrown by the
hand rebounds after striking the pestle ( ew qt tam wftorum gs§ w).
(8) Pressure (^n) acting concurrently with impact (trftorw), as when the mud sinks
when we strike against the ground with the feet. Here, if tho feet be not in contact with
the mud, but only with the surrounding ground, there is transmitted force (ejw etol).
a ?Rm^ srW^i *4 *5#
I Prasastap&da).
(4) Gravity concurrently with sansfoira or persistent tendency, as in the case of a
falling body in the second and following instants. Also the case of a stone thrown against
the mud, where gravity (the weight of the stone) combines with the Vega of the stone
to produce motion in the mud (Prasastapada). (strep* u ys rc iwfu e^iTX: ftonl
). This case will be further noticed below.
Udyotakftra, the commentator on the Nyfiya-Bhasya, states that a heavier body falls
to the ground with greater Vega (and velocity) than one that is lighter. Udyotakdra also
holds, and Sridhara agrees with him, that the gravity ($*?*) of a body as a whole
45
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composed of particles (ww:) is not the same as the stun of the gravities of the particles.
There is a difference in amount which is, however, so small as to be imperceptible. The
concept of mass in the New Mechanics of Lorenz may lend some countenance to this
curious metaphysical speculation. (Sridhara,
(5) Volition acting concurrently with gravity, as in lifting the hand. This is accom¬
panied by transmission when an object ( e.g ., the quoit) is lifted by the hand.
Sanskara (impressed motion, momentum) with or without pressure (^iq«v) or impact
(wfniwi) may be transmitted wara?!
Sridhara).
Composition of Gravity with Vega (momentum).
When a body is let go and falls to the ground, the force acting on it is gravity (3***)
which the astronomers ascribe to the attraction of the Earth. Motion is produced in the
first instance by gravity alone, and this leads to a sanskara (impressed motion) in the same
direction. But the force of gravity continues to operate, so that, in the moments follow¬
ing the first, the motion is due to gravity as well as sanskdra. The resultant motion is
one, but both the causes must be conceived as contributing to the resultant. The reason
for supposing this combined action is that both gravity and sanskdra (impressed motion
or momentum) are seen elsewhere to produce motion separately.
In the case of the falling body, therefore, there is the composition of the two,
gravity and vega, acting in the same direction from the second instant on¬
wards. It is as if two motions coalesced and resulted in one.
Here a good foundation is laid for the explanation of the accelerated motion of
falling bodies, but Galileo’s discovery was not anticipated, as Galileo’s observations
and measurements of motion were wanting (*nqp ss*%? raff*: fipnl
nqraxumrafw gra-rairrar* rawT nrfr t i ra w e rra frwws — wffa — rm mm' yiww
3 3ff?w-raffxp*ff3, srasiq, i)
But in the case of tho flying arrow or other projectile, the impulsive force which
produces vega counteracts the force of gravity; in the end, this vega is lost through
friction with air, and then gravity (3*ro) brings the arrow to the ground. The meaning
of this “ counteraction " is not clear. Is it intended that the action of gravity is suspended
as long as the vega continues? We have seen that, in the case of a body let fall,
Prasastapfida expressly states that gravity (j* 7 *) and sanskara (vega, momentum) both
act in the second and following instants. Prasastap&da seems to have thought that
some sanskaras (e.g., the vega of an arrow or other projectile) suspend the action of
gravity (jrar raii*ffftrft, Prasastap&da, i fffiiram fffffara raw'll
fnffi Prasastapfida, Sridhara, other
sanskaras (e.g., in tho cas3 of a falling body) coalesce with gravity to produce a single
resultant motion. The later commentators (from Sridhara downwards) certainly interpret
the Vaisesika Sutras in this sense.
Motion of a particle in the case of a composition of forces.
Any number of motions or vegas may be impressed on a particle, but so long as these
are in a uniform direction () the resultant motion or vega is in a straight line
and may be conceived as one. (ffftfhl SK'WmWP rasastapfida, vfan). It is only when we
come to Gamana (curvilinear motion) and its causes that the question of composition
assumes a real significance. In all such cases, each separate particle has only one Vega
(impressed motion) in a definite direction at any given instant, but the
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composition of the successive motions and Vegas in the same particle produces the
curvilinear motion (to) e.g., the rotation of each constituent particle of the potter’s wheel.
The motion of the body (TORT eg,, the wheel) results from the combined motions of the
particles (tort:), if pressure or impact produces motion in an opposite direction to the
Vega already impressed on the body, the original direction w.ould be changed, as is seen
in the case of rebounding (<HWi*i) after impact (*rfroa). The mortar rebounding after striking
the pestle is a typical instance of such change of direction in Vega or motion. The
impressed force, e.g., impact produces a changed motion in a different direction.
One view is that the original Vega (momentum) is destroyed before a new motion and
a new Vega are produced by the impact. Others hold that the impact does not destroy
the original Vega (momentum), but conjointly with it produces the changed motion and,
through such motion, a changed Vega in a new direction. (
59 % 37jtrn*i wfafafa to
vist itwiH vi TOR: jrfwniTi; ifit ct seq. Prasastapada,
Typical cases of curvilinear motion (Gamaiu 1).
Vortical Motion -This is due to the contact of two bodies moving in opposite direc¬
tions with a like or equal Vega, e.g., two currents of air or water meeting from opposite
directions. The change of direction is seen in the fact that water which flows down¬
wards, or air which moves obliquely, may receive an upward motion as the result of such
collision. (to ^ri 1 totoAt: : sf*TO: Prasastapada,
The Scholiast Udayana adds : 3 TOT TOs<oq|*nMiH* 4 ft»ini
*^S*R*i—WfTTO gwilTOWwSi. Sridhara notes :—MitVUlftfll
tori; wwwHfti * *Rfu iRta toto from;—Sridhara)*
Vibratory motion (TOTO,
This will be analysed in the chapter on Acoustics.
Rotatory motion (hto).
Each particle of the rotating body, e.g., the potter’s wheel (**), has, at any given
instant, a motion in a definite direction. The rotatory motion of the body results from
the separate motions of the particles, and their persistent tendencies (tort:), joined
with the fact of the rigid conjunction of the particles. When the rod strikes one
part of the wheel, the motion in the part struck is in the first instant produced by
impact (srfro?!,) ; while the other parts move through the transmission of force due to the
rigid cohesion of parts. The subsequent motions in the part struck are due to continued
pressure (^ 5*0 and the persistent tendency (tor) set up by the first motion ; while the
subsequent motions in the other parts are explained by their own persistent tendencies
and the transmission due to rigid cohesion. 'When the rod is disjoined from the wheel, the
rotatory motion continues, being due merely to the persistent tendencies in the con¬
stituent parts and the resultant persistent tendency in the whole.
Other varieties of curvilinear motion in bodies are to be similarly explained (i e., by
the composition of Vegas) ( tot totort^ Jifufiiraf^rre3|RrTO*ilwmT
flijMTORfu 1 TOrfaitaT:—Prasastapfida —1 vg’
itan; qugs 3 i«wfi i «w fr i totto TOtirnrorfft
TOwa * >1 ^*1 1 ^ * 1 TO^ri TORm * tori$* TOn^Str
TOifa^r: —Sridhara).
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Section 4.
MOTION OF FLUID8.
Current motion downward flow in a stream), upward motion (urtflfW, e.g., evapora¬
tion, boiling, etc.), and capillary motion (vfwfr, as in plants and porous vessels) are three
varieties of fluid motion which require explanation. To this may be added vortical motion
Wr*’*), and wave motion which will be noticed in the chapter on Acoustics.
1. Current Motion
This is conditioned by fluidity in particles, but Sankara Misra notes that in the
downward flow of water, gravity in the fluid particles is the efficient cause Rftn-
IHWTU Sankara Misra, When the water is enclosed on all sides, as
in a vessel, the downward flow (W^) is counteracted. Here the fluidity does not produce
motion, because, in the case of the particles in contact with the enclosing body, there
is the resistance of the latter, which is transmitted to the other particles, and
this counteracts the fluidity mi grom *Pi
sfwgiR—Praiastap&da, uwj).
2. Upward Motion e. g evaporation).
In evaporation, the fluid particles are rarefied, and remain in a fine state of suspen¬
sion; the rarefaction is due to the impulse (’to**) or impact (sifironf) of the heat particles in
the sun’s rays, and the upward movement is due to their contact with the air under this
impulse or impact. Sankara Misra notes that in boiling there is a similar upward movement
of water particles under the impact of heat rays, (tott sTjsfomnr snfrfi egwaftwm v i
Sutras 5 and 6, Ahnika 2, Chap 5, Yaisheshika Aphorism). WWW: uqyrafif -
wm -Sankara Misra, <mp«rc). "
N.D.—These two Sutras of Kan&da have been interpreted by the late Gang&dhara
Kaviratna in his commentary to refer to the upward conduction of water in pipes by the
pressure of air.
The mention of the transmitted pressure of the air seems to lend some
countenance to Gangadhara’s view, and the word Naili offers no ditticutly, being taken
in its usual sense pipe (*rfsro, Nalikfi) while the current interpretation does violence to the
common acceptation of the word.
8 . Capillary Motion (qfag#*)
Two instances are given,—the ascent of the sap in plants from the root to the stem,
(vfuu: sfa 3% ftfanuimi —Sankara Misra) and the penetrative diffusion of liquids in
porous vessels, e.g., of the oil or ghee in an earthen jar EWifVfliiPli
*qw). Heat particles have a like penetrative power Tin*: TOnnisl 8 *
areril v fnfaiPri wri — Jayanta, Ahnika 8, Hiuwnfv*^J
This is ascribed to adri^ta, as the cause cannot be ascertained by either perception or
inference (including hypothesis) ( wwj mmwri njTOwinPinrwt -Sridhara.)
Section 5.
INTERESTING EXAMPLES OF MOTION ASCRIBED TO ADRISTA (UNKNOWN
CAUSE, UNEXPLAINED NATURE, FINAL CAUSE.)
The first motions in primordial atoms at the beginning of Creation are attributed to
Adrifta. Among movements in masses of matter so caused are noted the motion of the
globe of the earth and similar other bodies y tc w i ffi »ri **#>! Prasastap&da
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with Sridhara’s commentary, Most probably this means earthquakes, tides, etc.
Aryabhata and his school would no doubt bring under this head the diurnal motion of the
earth. It is interesting to note in this connection that BhAskara refutes the Buddhist
hyphothesis of the earth falling perpetually in vacuo, by arguing that the earth must
remain balanced in space, as there is nothing outside to attract it.
The movement of the needle (iron in general, as Sankara Misra notes) towards the
magnet is another example of unexplained motion in matter. Cleaning and right placing
of the magnet are necessary
Similarly amber attracts grass (straw, etc.)
(imRwqffifW m* Sankara Misra, on Sutra 16, Ahnika 1, Chap V.)
Involuntary movements of the hand under the influence of the hypnotist’s mantra»
(incantations) are also attributed to adri^ta.
Section 6.
MEASUREMENT OP MOTION. UNITS OP SPACE AND TIME.
The solar (lay was taken as a natural measure or division of time. In the NyAya-Vaise-
$ika School, the day of 24 hours (solar) is stated to contain 80x30x30x18x2x2 units of
time (k§anas). The NyAya unit of time therefore measures 2/45ths of a second. The
smallest measure of time mentioned by the astronomers is the Truti which is =1/88750th
of a second.
The natural measure of length was the cubit (Hasta), of which there were two
fixed standards (the greater and the lesser cubit). The smallest measure of length
mentioned in the Silpa-sAstra (Technology) is the Parana Anu, which is about l/849525th of
an inch. This is the same as the Trasarenu of the Ny&ya-Vaisegika School, which stands
for the thickness of the minimum visible (the finest mote perceptible in the sunbeam, as
it comes slanting into a dark room through a chink).
Average velocity — BhAskara) was measured in accordance with the formula
but no unit of velocity appears to have been fixed upon. There was no idea of accelera¬
tion, and of course no measurement of force. Where the velocity is uniform, the
interval of time may be of any amount fa*"*), but where the velocity is variable,
(nfitaMEWfc : —Bhaskara), an indefinitely small quantity of time must be taken;
in other words, the positions of the particle in two successive instants must be con¬
sidered and the velocity must be supposed to be uniform during this interval (conceived
as indefinitely small, yi) It was in this way that BhAskara determined the instanta¬
neous motion of a planet
Component of velocity.
The astronomers measured the motion ot a heavenly body in diBerent directions
(longitude, right ascension, etc.), and calculated separately the components ot motion
(affiant:) in these directions.
And they adopted the device of transferring such component velocities fr om one body
to another in the computation of relative motion (e.g., ah tffi nraffi't waaffi - UtilfaPm^i
affiant aft’ tfan: Bhtskara, 8iddk&nta-8iromopi, Gapitidhyiya, Ghatisphuti-prakarapa).
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Section 7.
NOTION OF THREE AXES.
Motion, we have seen, was defined as the change of position of a particle in space.
To conceive position in space, VAchaspati takes three axes, and the position in space of one
particle relatively to another may be indicated by distances measured along these three
axes (vide my paper on The Mechanical, Physical and Chemical Theories of the Hindus, in
Dr. P. C. Ray's Hindu Chemistry, Yol. II, pp. 211-212). This remarkable analysis (circa 842
A.D.) VAchaspati, NyAyasuchinibaudba) anticipates in a rudimentary manner the
foundations of solid (coordinate) geometry, eight centuries before Descartes.
The principle of the differential calculus applied to the
computation of motion (variable motion.)
BhAskara (1150 A.D.) in computing what he calls the “instantaneous" motion
(nngtiM nfa) of a planet compares its successive positions in two successive instants,
and regards the motion as constant during the interval which he conceives to be indefi¬
nitely small This is equivalent to the determination of the differential of the
planet's longitude, and the process bears “ a strong analogy ” (to quote the words of Mr.
Spottiswoode, the Astronomer Royal) “ to the corresponding process in modern mathe¬
matical astronomy." I have elsewhere shown that BhAskara's process was not merely
analogous to, but virtually identical with, that of the Differential Calculus, Mr. Spottis*
woode's cautious reservation having been due to his want of acquaintance with the
original and the insufficiency of the materials placed before him. (Vide my paper on
the Mechanical, Physical and Chemical Theories of the Hindus in Dr. P. C. Ray’s Hindu
Chemistry, Yol. II, pp. 158-168.)
SECTION 8.
RELATIVE MOTION.
The phenomenon is noticed among the hallucinations of sense) smv:
fausfid WTC* EH—Kum&rila, Sloka Vartika, p. 620). Astronomers like Aryabhata and
Lalla who believed in the diurnal revolution of the Earth from the West to the East
explained the apparent revolution of the starry Heavens in the opposite direction by
the principle of relative motion.
Section 0.
SERIAL MOTION.
Several Sant Anas (series) of motions are incidentally noticed, e.g. t vibration (*qvqn,
wave-motion current motion («wpi).
In an interesting passage, Charaka notes three instances of serial motion, viz ., those
of water, sound and light and Eifif to which he compares the course
of chyle (or chyle blood) in the Dhamanis (veins) and other ducts of the body.
Dalv&na thinks that downward, oblique and upward currents of chyle are respectively
intended by the three illustrations ; but OhakrapAni points out that the SantAna (wave) of
sound travels in all directions (the same is of course true also of light); and that dif¬
ferences in speed (and not in direction) are here meant. In other words, a SantAna
of sound travels more rapidly than that of water and less rapidly than one of light
and Charaka's meaning is that the metabolic course may complete its circuit
with greater or less speed. Whether, in this passage, the three SantAnas are viewed as
waves or currents is not specified. But the difference between a wave ($ft) and a current
(uspi) was well-known.
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A current of water downward flow) consists of particles moving in an un¬
interrupted series under the action of gravity and fluidity (ijto and gun, Sankara Misra).
A wave (dHwrcg), on the other hand, is constituted by the transmission of vibratory motion
( ) in the water particles (e.g. t Jayanta, NyAya-Manjari,
Ahnika II).
A ray of light, on the other hand, was supposed to imply the rectilinear propagation
of indefinitely minute corpuscles in all directions, with inconceivable velocity, and a sort
of conical dispersion vswam-Udyotak&ra, VAchaspati).
APPENDIX E.
HINDU IDEAS ON ACOUSTICS.
Section 1.
ANALY8I8 OP SOUND.
The Mimdmsakas :—In their analysis of Sound, the Mim&nsakas distinguish between
three elements: (1) NAda a quality of VAyu (air), which is the physical basis of audible
sound, (2) Dhvani, sound as heard, audible sound, and (8)—in the case of significant
sound,—Sphota, ‘transcendental' or «intelligible ’ sound, representing the Platonic ideas
or logoi , which are eternal ubiquitous (®ror), and noumenal (Rrox, lit., without
substrate or ground—EumArila). The Sphotas are manifested by the Dhvanis (audible
sounds), of course only in the case of words (to, TO). Upavarsa, the teacher of Panini,
rejects the sphotas in favour of the vanuia, which are conceived to be “ phonetic moulds ”
with natural significance.
As regards sound in its physical aspect and the mode of its propagation, some of the
MimAnsakas content themselves with saying that VAyu (air) has a special quality (NAda),
which causes audible sound, ntjjv: urgst ^ n*TO— KumArila, Sloka-VArtika).
auwifqwHmflwn i TO^ft towR srggwrt ^f^w^-PArtha-SArathi Misra, NyAyaratnA-
kara). Others, including the teachers of the SikshA (Vedic chanting), hold that the physi¬
cal basis of sound is a series of air movements (nijtotn, of. UdyotakAra’s and VAchaspati’s
reports); in other words, the air particles themselves flow in a current in all directions,
being obstructed in their path by the impact of tangible objects (i.e., material bodies),
and the movement ceases, as in the arrow, when the moving force is thus e xhaus ted (e.g. t
* qgPtWyrffa : ton n nroffu.. .fW*TO TO*»to*, Jayanta
NyAya-Manjari). But the orthodox MimAnsa view is that of the MimAnsA Doctor, Savara
SvAmi, who holds that NAda (the physical basis of sound) is a wave motion of air, being the
transmission of conjunctions and disjunctions in the minute particles of air, the wave
originating in the first impact, and being continued by the successive ^ 0
minute particles (e.g. TOAftH H irtTOl fo fiumrwT: to^^to* toTO* 1 *^ (17- 1-1) f f imm
am: foifTOR swftu fo ufirrom: TOnfuTOPi NTOufa * ui^rc-
TOTOm U% n^ H T»IT I VN ^ TO I TON N N^NTN JNRI ^
Savara BhAshya, Sutra 13, Pada 1, AdhyAya I). In this view, the particles of air (A WNUNf:)
are subject to a vibratory motion (a sort of p arispanda) in the production of sound (ufrorq
faiqrc_Jayanta, NyAya-Manjari). The YAkyapadiya describes articulate sounds (vamas)
and indeed all sounds {sabdas) as only forms of air set in motion, with rarefaction and
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condensation (wm), and capable of variations of velocity and configuration (mrfm: m&h
srt vaRjih sj: i ito bPwwWi: dbnmi
jn'w: i V&kya-padiya, Kin da 1,81oka 109).
Nydya-Vaiicfika .—Theearly Nyftya writers hold that the sound-wave (tqm ws) has its
substrate in Akftsa (ether) and not Yftyu (air). Later writers (e.g., Yftohaspati in the Tat-
tvavindu) add that sound itself as a phenomenon is not to be conceived as a mode of motion
(paritpanda), for Akftsa, the substrate, is, in the Nyftya view, incapable of motion. (u imn
easts—Tattvavindu). At the same time,
the propagation of sound must be conceived on the analogy of waves in water (dlfwuyum).
Udyotakftra in the Yftrtika, V&ohaspati in the Tfttparyyatikft, and Jayanta in the Nyftya-
Manjari controvert the three views current in the Mim&nsft school,—(1) that Nftda, the
physical basis of audible sound, is a specific quality of Yftyu (air), (2) that sound in its
physical aspect, is constituted by a series of air movements of the nature of a current
(mjWiPT), and (8) that it is not air currents but air waves, series of conjunctions and
disjunctions of the air particles or molecules (umuuur:, u^huiws :), that constitute the Nftda,
the sound physical, to which, in the case of significant sounds, the Mimftnsakas assign
thq function of manifesting the aphota, ‘transcendental ’ or ‘intelligible* sound (logos,
the word )—(Vide Udyotakftra Y&rtika, Adhyftya 2, Ahnika 2, Sutra 14). Also Tfttparyyatika,
ui v mq: tftnfonumsmvi fntrnrf etc., loo. cit to
Against these views, the early Nyftya Doctors maintain that sound is a specific quality of
Akftsa (ether) and not of Yftyu (air). At the same time, they admit that the impact which
originates the sound phenomenon ( w w # s w mqgts i ft fifrsju) in Akftsa does so by setting
up a vibration in the molecules of the object struck ( e.g ., a bell), and that these vibrating
molecules impinge against the air molecules in contact (ungrate*:, wwt fT w wij :). In
other words, though Akftsa is the substrate (’smw), the efficient cause of sound (ffiftnsra)
Is to be found in the mechanical impact (ffiwm) of vibrating molecules of sonorous bodies
against contiguous molecules of air. As to the propagation of sound, the early Ny&ya-
Yaisefika writers content themselves with stating that the first sound thus produced
in the substrate Akftsa by the impact of the vibrating molecules (e.g., of a bell) against
the contiguous molecules of air, produces a second sound in the contiguous Akftsa, and the
second sound, a third, and so on, in the same way as waves are generated in water,
until the last sound sets up a vibration in the ear-drum (wfojft). Of course, this
propagation of sound-wave in Akftsa (ether) is effected by means of the air-wave as its
vehicle. This is the Nyftya-Vaiseshika hypothesis (erat) of an independent sound-wave
(wq-e*int). Akftsa (ether) is motionless, but the air wave would not be transmitted, if
the air molecules were not inter-connected by Akftsa. Prasastapftda, the Yaiseshika
Doctor, for example, describes the first sound as giving off a second, the second
a third, and so on, expanding in Akftsa, in the same way as waves are supposed to
propagate themselves in the ocean uhrufrayqw :.
sateuijftroi^'eepwu i wit'll Oisft i fariumuhiuRi
vtqqft i ^errafwitg a^tg ara***
I Prasastapftda. **r snrfhut ag raf e ^ ^ ursaunflMawfr aUrwww
4lF*caw^t Haffl flU Hals i wmi jui etc., Sridhara,
ibid). On this hypothesis, the locus of the sound at any moment forms a circle in Akftsa, and
the propagation is carried on, in the air, by means of ever-expanding circles, as in the case
of waves in water. But this analogy is rejected by some (e.g., Udyotk&ra), who hold that
the first sound gives off, not one sound in a circle, but an indefinite number of sounds in ail
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directions, and each of these again gives off another, and so on, so that sound may be said
to expand by successive concentric spherical layers, even as the Kadambakoraka (the
so-called bud of the nauclea kadamba) expands by successive concentric spherical layers
of filaments which shoot forth from one another. On the first of these two hypotheses,
the air-wave implied in the transmission of sound is of the nature of what we call trans¬
verse waves; - on the second, of the nature apparently of longitudinal waves. In any case,
it is clear that the orthodox MimAnsa view of Savara SvArni that the air-wave constitut¬
ing physical sound means a series of mere conjunctions and disjunctions of air particles
with rarefaction and condensation, (Savara, sue, VAkyapadiya)
implies longitudinal waves ift ft wvy vftv uyvfmg dHrfur w p s ftrcu mwiysfrt : Visvanltha,
Bh Ash A Parichheda, Sloka 16P. vfv^vin vwroflfg: i wmj
i ?N: mUMm : m mjvfei i
TUh wi s w f fiN nsp m usfu (UdyotakAra, II, 2,14). As the
momentum of the impact series (which constitutes the efficient cause of the sound-wave)
grows feebler and feebler in the course of transmission through the air particles, the sound
at last dies away. Gangesa in the OhintAmani holds that the propagation is not from
molecule to molecule, but travels in ever-expanding circles as in water-waves, perhaps in
spherical layers by compression of masses of air; and these air-waves, the vehicles of
sound, are exceedingly swift. This explains the velocity of sound.
u *i fr m wfomni wfc* v wrqr i ft** uAh m fi
uA wi vs ss^ rnhrrtsfi ill vs s*s;
slRKivgsgvsvjft sikw ssss^i svrhsusi 41wsrRrks sifs^s ^hwsi: i
sftrts s s^TOTsrf^s sw imp s*%v wvvsh ffvs
ssusv vfu (Gangesa, Tattva ChintAmani).
But how does the first sound produce the second, the second the third, and so on ? At
every step, the efficient cause, the impact of some vibrating molecule against a contiguous
molecule of air, must be posited, and this is equally applicable to a sound produced by a
sound, (sqprss;) aa to one produced by conjunction and discon junction (sta* or
In other words, the sound-wave ( ssfswws ) in AkAsa necessarily implies an air-wave
The MimAnsaka view, then, that explains the propagation of sound by the transmission of
the original oscillatory motion through the successive layers of air by means of successive
impacts or pressures producing conjunction and disjunction of air molecules (mufass
dhmfmmr :—SavarabhAshya), or rarefaction and condensation (nw—VAkyapadiya), is also
implied in the NyAya-Yaiseshika doctrine of the sound-wave (i^vr’m*), the difference being
that in the latter the air-wave, which is conceived as a mode of serial motion (vfiHHUv) is
only the vehicle or medium of propagation of a so-called sound-wave in AkAsa which is not
itself a mode of motion. This if what we find expressly and elaborately formulated in
the later NyAya-vaiseshika (vide Gangesa, ChintAmani, supra).
Section 2.
ANALYSI8 OF VIBRATORY MOTION, B.G., OF A BELL (IN AIR).
The moleoules of a bell vibrate when the bell is struck. The question is—what
the nature of this vibratory movement? VAtsyAyana and UdyotakAra answer that
when the hand strikes the bell, some of the molecules are displaced (from their
stable position,—ie., there is karma in the molecules), and thus a SanskAra (here
a kinetio SanskAra, momentum) is generated VAtsyAyana and VA-
chaspati), and the molecules swing forward under the action of this SanskAra, until
46
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362 )
they strike the contiguous molecules of air. This now is a case of mutual impact
which divides the momentum between the colliding masses, and the bell-molecules
begin to swing backward, the motion continuing under the action of the diminished
Sansk&ra, until they come in collision, again, yith other air-molecules; and
then the process is repeated, and the bell-moleoules begin to swing forward and
backward, until the original energy which is parted with in some measure at each
impact becomes so feeble as to be unable to produce any kinetio disturbance
Similarly, the air-molecules themselves are set vibrating by means of these impacts,
and the transmission of the motion would form the wave of air, which the later Nyay*-
Vaiseshika expressly posit as the vehicle of the sound-wave. But Udyotak&ra never
conceived vibration in vacuo , nor does it appear if he meant to include the second
species of Sansk&ra (elasticity, sthitisth&paki sanskdra) as converted from its potential
state into kinetio energy, and thus contributing to the momentum (vega). He
uses the generic term Sansk&ra, which comprehends elasticity as well as momentum due
to impressed force. His commentator VAchaspati does not go into details, and does not
analyse the momentum. Later writers, however, expressly state that elasticity (sthitisthft-
paka sanskftra) is one of the causes of vibration, and that elasticity resides not only in
the element of earth, but also in air, water and tejaa (of. Visvhn&tha).
Vatsy&yana, II, 2, 3 0 HHUw fap 'TTftl-3'iZT-
i si srjgTqsrfct m * wi^rf^ retr g*:
^tfrT I H5l:
i as Hfiga^farcraTfma: a#r a ig wt r
Udyotak&ra V&rtika, Adhyaya 2, Ahnika 2, Sutra 80.
(wnnjwwjfir W mrmrfpifr m 3 : V&ohaspati Tfttparyyatika, loo. cit. als 0
uftrfu) —But of. Visvan&tha fafumurawiml 1 wu wfmr 1
1 Bh&shA-pariccheda, Slokas
157-159.
As the air-wave forms the vehicle of the sound-wave, if it does not constitute the
sound-wave itself, the favourable or retarding influence of currents of wind is easily
explained. The presence or absence of water (and other intervening objects) offering
greater or less resistance to the transmission of the wave-motion also easily accounts for
the greater or less distance to which the sound is carried.
Section 3.
ECHO,
ufuxeif’v—Echo was supposed to be a reflection of sound. Some consider it to be
an after-sound, a sound generated by sound. Others suppose it to be due to the reflec¬
tion of sound in the same way as an image in water or in a mirror (ufitfifcs) is due to
the reflection of light. There is an element of hallucination in either case fe lft q Rquftkm )-
the image in water is not a real image, neither is the echo the real sound it is taken
to be ^ H tvrurop | if *
ftwsi1 hRiStwi fawwftr aaTf^ra wmwz *
Vijn&nabhiksu, Pravachana-Bh&sya, Chap, I, Sutra 87.)
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Section 4.
PITCH, INTENSITY AND TIMBRE.
Sounds differ from one another by their pitch by their intensity
and by their quality or timbre(«qn*rc* **$.) When a bell is struck, an indefinite
number of notes (friiftq, tones and overtones) are emitted, of varying pitches ; and the notes
die away, becoming less and less intense. Now we know that the molecules swing to
and fro, and that the SanskAra (momentum, vega) of the vibrations grows
feebler and feebler. The differences in pitch (tones and overtones) as well as in inten¬
sity must be due to variations in the 8anskAras of the vibrations. The distinguishable
pitches (called Srutis, nfrfoj) as well as the degrees of intensity must be as¬
cribed to variations in the vega (momentum), and, by implication, the frequency, etc.,
of the vibrations.
Cf. VAtsyAyana, II, 2,86—troiPjirm vqwiwijqfvi:
Vide also Udyotak&ra's analysis of vibration
based on VAtsyAyana— t nicHi w fik t «ww nri ifu f*
i fpunufnrum uj ssror vwitc—
UdyotakAra, VArtika, Adhy&ya 2, Ahnika2, Sutra 86- Vachaspati,
TAtparyyatikA, loo. cit.)
Sounds also differ from one another in volume or massiveness in the case of coales¬
cence (qroemWliTO). A sound both loud and massive is called (large)—** votrpv
vs unc: wiwrMIto: *rf%t * wimfq i wifw ?nr tfu
VAchaspati, II, 2, 86.
Savara, the MimAnsA Doctor, explains massiveness (^jrq) as due to the coales¬
cence of different air-waves, which by their simultaneous impact affect a comparatively
large tract of the ear-drum
fq sraroifv i Mro |q*u«N^\«viA*<9 fiwuvi: vqMrovTh i ibi ^
—bavara on Jaimini, Sutra 17, AdhyAya 1, Pfida 1). The MimAnsakas who resolve
sounds into air waves attribute all differences, whether of pitch, intensity, or massive¬
ness, to differences in the series of conjunctions and disjunctions of air particles that
form the waves (Vide VAchaspati’s report wroi u M fnft wftrfon Cf. also
the later NyAya-Yaiseshika which accepts air-waves as vehicles of sound-waves
vqiR v qhwfa : (Gangesa, Tattva ChintAmani). It may be noted that the
terms <frr and vq are occasionally used in a general sense, and applied to express higher
and lower degrees of pitch as well as of intensity.
There are also differences of quality (u*^u swtmtwM:) The same sound ga (*|) ? of
the same pitch and intensity, uttered by men, and parrots, can be distinguished—so also
the sounds, even the same notes of the scale, given out by a wind instrument like the venu,
and a stringed instrument like the vtna. Similarly, there are sexual and even individual
differences of voice (vrf%? f* asrufqg j'qrq i *v
3'W^J <S>3 T- VSchaspati, T&tparyyatikfi, II, 2,14,-inn wm* auftyqfr-
mwHfll —UdyotakAra, II, 1, 15——
Gangesa and MathurAnAtha). The sounds emitted by impact of the different Bhutas
(echo from AkAsa, hissing from the wind, puffing from fire, bubbling from water, and
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splitting or cracking from earth) are characteristic examples of such differences of timbre
(Vide Panchadasi, Bhutaviveka, Sloka 8 ).
The V&kya padiya (K&nda I, Sloka 109), as we have seen, ascribes all differences
(whether of pitch, volume or timbre) to the characteristic forms of the air waves,
which differ from one another by their configuration (qfamnifcwft ytfc:), and are capable
of variations of velocity (momentum, vega) as well as of rarefaction and condensation
(itww^n) viwWi;
There are passing references to the obscuration (qfws) of sounds in Vits&yana,
tJdyotakfira and V&chaspati, but the subject is treated more from a psychological than
from a physical point of view (tftafrQvg: fit n top i w w jfa srj
TOifar ifnfc (V&ts&yana, II, 2 ,14, vide Udyotakira and
V&chaspati, loo. cit. Here ft*=loud, and w^=low.)
Section 5.
MU81CAL SOUNDS.
Srutie and Bvarae %—We have already seen that the distinguishable pitches are
called Srutis, and they are proportioned to the vega (momentum) of the kampa-
santana (vibration). Now the ratio of a note to its octave (in respect of pitch)
is given as 1 : 2,—we may therefore conclude that the vega of the vibration in the latter
case was considered to be twice as great as in the former. An indefinite number of Srutis
could be interposed between a note and its octave (vttov fg yfbri * ywft w ftqfroi: TO
ftfatfTWf i dttiiwTOK i cf. dttrofam i qgriftsfi mw: qyn:—d fowifom t, bioka 40),
Twenty-two such are named and recognised for musical purposes. But a Sruti as such
cannot constitute a musical tone (svara). A sruti is a simple (unmixed) and fundament¬
al tone of a certain pitch, whereas an ordinary musical tone (svara) is really composed of
a fundamental tone (sruti) and certain partial tones, (harmonics, Anurananas, (ifywi)
The musical tones (svaras), vocal or instrumental, are therefore of the nature of what
we call clangs, because, either accompanying or following the Srutis or simple fundament¬
al tones a*® always found certain partial tones (rnnroi) TOfit wfor wN*
i nfvnirtr (sfaivwrc) ffifarc *fn iron i
—D&modara, 8 angitadarpana, Chap. I, Sloka 49. yronroO i: i w
W: —-Sangita-ratnakara q gftnrt wi ( dftnqftiq* ) gift'gfnfifti torNR:
gssmrit i * ** W to*^ i g vn —Sangita Samaya
s&ra, 1 , mgig yftr vrarein: w: i tun eitoRNwi wiw
Kgfr: I TO^WWT^TOTOTllT^TswTOW iro i D&modara, Sangitadarpana, Chap. I, Sloka 51.
The relation between a Sruti and a Svara is variously conceived as (1) qftfpi model change;
(2) mm manifestation ; ( 8 ) wrftmnPfa the relation of genus and species; (4) fwbi
(!• 3^3 fasMrt) reflection; (5) gn fr ircfro, the relation of cause and effect; Cf. nftu
mRum by Ahobala, mim$ wr mm: i mfgy'fN** tm ^rfw: tontomi i wta qi fow i
Sloka 88 ,
Seotion 6.
THE NOTES OP THE DIATONIC SCALE: DETERMINATION
OP THEIR RELATIVE PITCH.
The pitch of a note is inversely proportional to the length of the wire ipgqrtr
ngsfeTOPIPffl:) (WtaTO?) quoted by Mr. Devala in his * Hindu Musical Scale ’).
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The piteh of the fundamental note to that of its octave is as 1: 2 ( n e n r w ? uqjs: fjj#
quoted by Mr. Devala).
The pitch of the fourth note (F) to that of the fundamental (C) is as 4 :8 (*q%;
uq yftrfrfl to* quoted by Mr. Devala).
The virbrations of the fifth note (G) to those of the fundamental (0) are as 8 : 2
(ffcqmwwTiewi uqp: i ffinwrfaim quoted by Mr. Devala).
Concord is either perfect or imperfect. The ratio of perfect concord is 8: 2—
that of imperfect concord, 4:8—*4*-*-*i g*qr: unm: mu: (mufiftru quoted by Mr.
Devala) e.g., if D be the V&di, A would be a Samv&di, if B be the V&di, B would be a
Samv&di, in each case a perfect concord. The pitch of D is determined from that of G,
and the pitch of A from that of D, in each case by the rule of perfect concord.
Determination of the pitches of B and B(after Mr. Devala). This may be done in
either of the following ways
(1) E may be determined from A, and B from B by the rule of perfect concord. This
would give 808f as the value of the pitch of E, and 455& as that of the pitch of B, if the
pitch of C be taken as 240; or
(2) B may be determined from C by reduction of the fifth harmonic by two octaves,
a sort of imperfect concord; and then B may be determined from B by the rule of perfect
concord. This would give 800 for B, and 450 for B f if 0 be taken as 240.
Mr. Devala in his investigations with the “ Sonochord ” finds that Hindu musicians
(and Sanskrit writers on music) adopted the latter values for B and B, as they tested
their notes by harmonics ftu n nwHw q* Rmwi —Kmfftr* quoted by Mr. Devala). The
Hindus therefore followed just intonation.
Section 7.
MUSICAL INTERVALS.
Musical tones are related to one another in four ways as V&dis, Samv&dis, Viv&dis
and Anuv&dis. The mediseval compilations explain these in reference to melody, and
harmony is altogether unknown, but the terms might be used to indicate relations of
harmony as well. The V&di might in that case answer to the key-note (or tonic); and
the Samv&dis to the two consonances, the fifth (2 : 8), and the fourth (8 : 4).
The rule given for the determination of a Samv&di is 12 or 8 Srutis intervening,
the intervals being therefore 18 and 9 Srutis respectively (giving the ratios 1 and ,).
C being the V&di, G and F are stated to be the Samv&dis. The first would answer
to the dominant, and the second to the sub-doininant.
In the same way, it is stated that if D be the V&di, A would be a Samv&di. If B be
the V&di, B is given as a Samv&di.
On the other hand, a two-Sruti interval (f.e., a difference of a semi-tone) gives a
Viv&di, which would thus answer to a dissonance. This is given as a general rule (f|ro-
m&tanga). Other oases are also noticed; e.g, B is a Viv&di to D, and B to A,
and vice versd (ratio of 9 :10).
The notes that do not come under these heads are Anuv&dls (e.p„ the sixth), of.
Bharata, N&tya-S&stra, Chap. 28,81okas 28-24.
Also Sangita-ratn&kara
tot froraffr i TOfa sptoft qgqrro*
otA vtaroftTOD ftp** sroMfr A I fonhi* *r too?
rt wf RTOft I tiHWHjUlfyTO i (toitoh)
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